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piston ring gap question

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Old Feb 21, 2017 | 05:41 PM
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Default piston ring gap question

Built a lm7 5.3 all new bearings ect, i did not gap the rings went with stock everything. If i want to spray it with a 150 how much should i gap the rings? Probably seems like a dumb question but i want everybodys input thanks
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Old Feb 22, 2017 | 07:31 AM
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For that small of a shot you should be fine gapping them .004-.0045" per 1" of bore. I've sprayed that much of a bone stock LS1 without gapping the rings.
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Old Feb 22, 2017 | 08:39 AM
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Not a dumb question.

Way better than a ruined motor because you butted the rings....
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Old Feb 26, 2017 | 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by KCS
For that small of a shot you should be fine gapping them .004-.0045" per 1" of bore. I've sprayed that much of a bone stock LS1 without gapping the rings.
thanks for the input , i wasnt going to even worry about it but changed my mind and going to gap the 1st and 2nd ring at .030
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Old Feb 27, 2017 | 10:16 AM
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That's a lot of gap for a small nitrous shot.

I'd do .024/.026 at the max but more likely .020/.022.

Wiseco has a handy little chart as well on ring gaps:

Code:
                            Top ring     2nd ring    Oil rail
Most standard engines       0.004        0.005       0.015
Nitrous Oxide                   0.005        0.0055     0.015
High performance racing    0.0055      0.0053     0.015
Racing with Nitrous/ Turbo 0.006        0.0057     0.015
Blower / Forced induction   0.007        0.0063     0.015
Multiply your bore size in inches times the value on the table.

For small nitrous and 3.78" bore it works out to .019"/.021" or so. Hence why I'd probably open it up a smidge and go .020/.022.
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