ring end gap factor
whats the purpose of filing the rings? Cant you just install them and go?
The ring manufacturers don't have a clue as to what kind of a motor you are building; it may be normally-apirated, or it could be a nitrous-assisted, turbocharged, or a supercharged motor.
Rings "grrow" in length as they get hot from combustion..
The rings that are exposed to the heat from a Nitrous oxide assissted, or
forced induction motor (supercharged or turbocharged) will tend to grow more than the ones installed in a motor without those power adders, and therefore, need different size gaps to take care of that added growth. If you don't have enough gap when they're cold, they can "grow" so much in length (and, this is a very real danger,) that the gap you had when they were cold, will totally close up.... and if they grow MORE than that, will cause all sorts of (bad) problems having to do with cylinder-wall scufffing (destroys ring seal) and ruining the ring seating (i.e. the delicate "shape" of the part of the ring that contacts the cylinder wall,) which is a very important facet of the cylinder sealing process.
If you DON'T file the rings to get the correct end gap, you can be either throwing away horsepower due to endgaps that are too large, and allow unnecessaary blow-by, or run the very real risk of having your cylinder walls and rings damaged, (right up to and including, having your engine seize, when the gap completely disappears from the heat)..... cause for an unnecessary rebuild.
Ring end gap filers are cheap and easy to use. Even I can do it!!!!:happy7:
It's good insurance for proper cylinder sealing.
Hope this helps!