piston ring gap

[Alan L]

I went to insert some new 930 rings in the cylinders. The spec sheet says max wear limit ring gap is 8 thou (0.2mm).

When I insert my new rings in the very top (unworn) and lower part of the bore, I still get 12 thou gap - how does that work? I'm reasonably sure the rings dont come in various sizes.
Alan

OK, I read the specs wrong - mixed up ring gap and ring clearance specs. 12 thou is in spec - just, for new ring.

[Eagledriver]

On two engines I've rebuilt, I used the old rings because they had smaller end gaps than the new rings I' had bought.

-Andy

[Alan L]

On other engines I have done, you haveless than minimal gap and have to grind the ends to open them to minimum spec - with a special ring grinder stone.
So it does seem weird when re-ringing these things you have to start off with more than minimal ring gap - especially for a track machine. Squeezing up the ring gap to the bare minmum (which is usually a secret number to the engine builder) is one of the performance edges builders look for. But not an option here.
Alan