Arias piston ring gap

[paul s]

Hey, we are building a 2.3L storker with Arias .20 over pistons and after talking with the Aries tech he told me to use .024 on the 1st and .018 on the 2nd, thats with 35r at 30psi. By searching this forum the norm is .019 1st and .023 on the 2nd at this power level. What should I gap them to. thanks

 

[bastard dsm]

it varies from how much boost your planning on running, if your going to run 30+psi i wouldn't
gap them to factory specs.

 

[Defiant]

Go with what the piston manufacturer says.

 

[turboglenn]

^^ Yep, there should be a sheet that comes with the pistons advising what gaps to use for what applications, it's a matter of mathematical equation based on your cylinder diameter and the type of abuse it's intended to take ( basically the amount of heat it will take as more heat = more expansion of the parts and needing more gap the hotter it's going to get)

 

[TOONAH]

The reason some old timers say you should open up the second ring gap a few thousandths more than the top ring is that it prevents "ring flutter" during the seating process. Some machinists say this is nonsense. I plan on running 20 psi of boost so I set the gaps on my Mahle piston rings: 1st - 0.018", 2nd - 0.024".
Guess that makes me an 'old timer' !!!

 

[Maglin]

Ring flutter will break ring lands. I would always go with what the piston and ring manufacture suggest. I wouldn't go smaller but going slightly larger for high output applications is usually good assurance. I could be wrong but I believe a good "Rule of Thumb" (and yes it should be "rule of wrist") is anything over 20 PSI to add .003-.005 for every 10 PSI. It might seem excessive but generally those boost levels are going to be mostly drag applications and not see much street use. The last thing you want is for the ring ends to contact each other. That is very very very expensive mistake. (requires a Rebore & Hone, Piston and rings at the least.)