Hey guys,

just about to put my replacement opti on and i already replaced the water pump seal. already heard from 69camaro and his suggestions for replacing the opti spark/timing cover seal. Just wanted to here some other thoughts on preventing oil leaking out from that seal. My old seal was REALLY seized in there and i had to cut around the rubber part of the seal with an exacto blade and sprayed a little liquid wrench around the edges and finally pried it out (which my hand felt the effects of that). There are no signs of any big gouges with the naked eye but i was wondering if should use any RTV sealant around the new seal?? and any other recommendations for preventing seal leakage? any past experiences would be great to hear before i put the seal in tomorrow

thanks guys

 

would not hirt to put some sealant on it. 69 covered it well. did u notice the notch in the cover to use to get the seal out? helped me to get the little devel out.

 

the water pump one had the notch in it. that one came out fine. it was the seal where the opti seats on the timing chain cover.

 

ok my bad. that was the easy one for me. for some reason it came out without any problem for me. just got lucky i guess. happens once in a great while. lol

 

I told him he got the "lucky" one. Mine came out easy too. I guess there's gotta be a stubborn one in every crowd!

 

unfortunately yes lol

 

Being completely new Optispark I am still learning a lot. I am not clear on once the early non vented (94 Corvette) model is removed and replaced with the same (or new unit) the timing will be correct. It appears from the information I have, there is a splined shaft only and no alignment for either. Do you have to remove the "cap" and position the rotor to #1 cylinder with the engine at TDC and then install with the "cap" replaced?

 

The shaft only fits in one way, so you can't screw up the timing. But it helps to have the cap off so you can turn the rotor to get it lined up. Are you doing an opti and seals replacement? If so, I can dig up a thread I contributed to which shows pics.

 

already have that great sticky on the water pump seal you provided by camaro69. the opti seal is easy.....well as long as it isnt seized on there as much as mine was lol

 

I am replacing most of the front engine parts - timing gear set, front cover seals, plug and coil wires, Optispark and water pump. Since I am "in there" I wanted to go through it all at one time so I didn't have to worry about it again for quite some time. I did find the write up on you mentioned but I really appreciate the help with the timing information. I will look closely at the Optispark shaft to make sure I can locate the alignment you mention. Thanks for the help.