howdy 66 tang stang and All:
Ric hit the nail on the head. If you continue to increase the plug gap with no reference to improvements you will increase wear and continually find your weakest link. That gets unneccisarily expensive. To experiment, get a tape recorder, a stop watch and an accurate, easy to read speedometer or tach. This is best done with two people in the car, but, I've done it alone. Identify a range, say from 20 to 40 MPH in 2nd gear, or 1.500 to 3,500 rpm. Start the tape recorder, read off the times into the tape recorder. Play back and analyize once you're done driving. Write them down to record for reference. Do this on a safe, lonely stretch of straight road. Start by establishing a base line before you change anything. Do each test several times to establish consistancy. Do each test exactly the same. The goal is to identify change, and hopefully improvements. If opening the gap shows no improvement, you've reached the capacity of your spark plug system for your engines state of tune. Now begin reducing the gap .005" at a time until you see a decline in performance. At that point go back to the previous setting. This is your engines optimum gap for that plug on that engine on that day. Any more than that will simple taxes all the components to an earlier failure and increase heat.
If you change timing, heat range, plug manufacture, or other ignition, intake or exhaust components you will need to start over. Heck, the weather, from day to day, can be a factor.
So, with a top notch electronic ignition system in a clean running street car, .050" gap is a good generality. .040" with a good point system.
Adios, David