Piston Ring gap

[Geary Trussell]

What kind of piston ring gaps are best for a street 348 engine. I was
thinking around .020. Comments would be appreciated.

[Ronnie Russell]

Geary, It has been accepted by most over the last 20 yrs that tight end gap clearance was best for performance engines. .014 to .018 . The last article I read that quoted a Federal Mogul ring engineer said " uh-oh we have been wrong" With the new tecniques available now they have discovered looser gaps are better. The explaination was long and complicated and I certainly am not smart enough to remember it, but what I got out of the article was .020 to .024 was best for everything. ( Normal out of the box clearances) I still file fit 1/16 rings tighter than that because of requests. Your question will bring many answers and opinions. I will be slinking back into the bushes to watch but I have nothing more to add.