Here's some advice I can offer on boost and rings from the school of hard knocks. Most of my boost experience is from diesels. But the same principles apply when it comes to the ring gap. First of all, don't use cheap rings when you want to run larger gaps. The cheap rings aren't "round" anymore when you gap them wide and then they don't seal properly. Also when the cheaper rings get heat soaked they loose their tension. Not really cool in a diesel. Haha. In my case the cheaper brand was perfect circle/sealed power and in the gas world those seem to be a good choice. But in my scenario they were the wrong choice. 2nd, have you checked your piston to wall clearance? I don't remember if you did or not. But if your PTW is excessive and your piston isn't growing when boost/heat is added then your bigger ring gap hurts you. Years ago I didn't realize how much a piston would grow under boost and higher cylinder temps. 3rd On any high boosted engine you're going to have to have some sort of crankcase breather evac or catch can system. It's just the nature of the beast.


Also, is your crankshaft end play within specs? Did you plastigauge any of the bearings when you assembled it? If you don't have all the measuring tools, plastigauge is a great way to check clearances.
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