Thermal expansion/ring gap
#1
Thermal expansion/ring gap
I know that there are plenty of general guidelines for boost and N/A upper ring gaps, and that the general tolerances are such that a few thousandths one way or another is no big deal. That being said, I'm curious as to how one would calculate the ideal ring gaps for various levels of cylinder pressure and heat. I'm also curious as to how that calculation would be affected by the difference between an AL block with sleeves vs an all iron block. I have always just went with what worked for other people, with no real knowledge of how close I may or may not be to tossing a ring land out the exhaust valve.
#2
Restricted User
Heat is the only real factor. I usually just spray washer fluid into the charge piping without worrying too much about ring gap. Water does a better job of keeping rings cool than methanol.