cstuef007

Hello guys I am hoping someone can help me out here. I just got my lt1 block back from the machine shop left the bores standard size, got it honed, and some other things done. I purchased a balanced rotating assembly from scat with forged ICON FHR pistons. My issue is I am checking the ring gaps on the rings that came with the kit (They are KB rings) and the gaps for the top is and second ring are measuring out to be around 0.025 inch. The pistons say the ring gap should be around 0.016 to 0.018

My question is should I buy a set of file fit rings so I can get the ring gaps correct or should I be good with this much of a gap?

Another question is why is the gap so large did the machine shop hone the bores too much?

This is going to be a naturally aspirated engine and will not see boost.

bw_hunter

A rule of thumb that I have used in the past is that you want a gap of 0.004 to 0.005in per inch of bore diameter so your 0.025 is a little big. It's not the end of the world as I saw a SAE paper, years ago, that said anywhere from 0.014 to 0.026 is OK for a 4.00" bore.

How did you measure the gap? You should push the ring down into the bore...below the area swept by the rings...and measure there. Use a piston to push the ring down to make sure the ring is square in the bore.Many bores, even after honing are nor perfectly cylindrical and you are looking to make sure you don't go below the minimum clearance for the rings at any point in the stroke. If you do, the rings WILL break and WILL damage the bore.

Bottom line is that you can use these rings if they don't have a menimum gap below 0.014", even if the gap is as much as 0.026" Things would be different if you were using forced induction...

Good luck!