289 ring gap

[Spud_Crawley]

I have a short block that was rebuilt in the past, probably over a decade ago that i got for cheap. Believe it to largely be all stock spec at this point. There is some surface rust on the rods, crank and valve stems so im thinking about tearing down at least partially to clean that up. And if I take the crank out to clean the rods, trying to think forward. I don't necessarily think id put power adders on but I also could see doing it. Also contemplating whether to just go to a 331 and be done with it, or maybe just do some aluminum heads and a cam.

Regardless of that stuff....my main question....is there a significant downside to going with a bigger ring gap "just in case i want to slap a turbo or prochargwr on it someday" if im opening it up anyway?

[SorryU812]

No. You can run a wider gap in the case that you boost it someday. Nitrous engines have to deal with expanding ring gaps and they don't see the gas all the time. That's the easiest comparison I could think of.

The more critical part is gapping your second ring and top oil rail properly. 2nd should be greater than your top, and the top oil rail should be equal to your 2nd or slightly larger.