Appears I have a water pump seal leak. Should be able to replace the seal without taking the timing cover off but while I'm in there wold like to upgrade the Opti-spark with a vented unit (1994). The stickies on opti-spark are old so I would like to get a fresh input on a GOOD opti-spark. Would like to upgrade to a vented unit so what do you recommend?

 

looks like Petris is pantera and price is up a lot. I have not looked into Opti's for years so cannot say if there is a good quality one for a good price. when replacing the pump shaft oil seal you need to make sure the seal is properly setting on the shaft when installing. if you just shove in on it will push the seal so it is pointing the wrong direction. this causes the seal to wear very fast and fail.

 

I’ve been digging around on the opti market recently, and below my findings and conclusions, all found on the internet, so please take it for what it is..

The original Opti which had the Mitsubishi sensor (J520) is considered to be the best due to this sensor (that is not manufactured anymore).

Some provide refurbished units using this sensor that they pick up on yards, one of them is the so called Opti doctor (Optispark solutions 1 on eBay), he sells handmade and tested units and seems to have a long and solid reputation, I was briefly in contact with him on eBay and he is still in business although its starting to be hard to find the used sensors.

Petris, that now is called Throwback Automotive is a vendor in Alabama owned by a corvette guy which sells tested Optis built from carefully chosen components.
They appear to have a good reputation and solid customer support, from them you can buy complete opti kits including surrounding parts as water pumps, sealing, vacuum hoses etc, and I believe they have vented optis for 92-94 as well

Regarding other optis, there seem to be a consensus that they often are unreliable chinese crap that in worse case fails right out the box or soon after, many say they choose the cheapest with the best warranty as its the same components on the inside anyway, this as folks on youtube has taken them apart and compared