352 max bore

i have recently begun restoring a '66 ford f-100. it has a 352 bored to a 390. or atleast something close. after checking compression i discovered that the rings on a few pistons were shot. after getting it out and broke down i discovered that the #5 piston wall was severely damaged. there are 2 big gouges in the wall opposite of each other. as bad as they are i dont think they will hone out. mostly i was wondering wat the max bore size for a 352 is so i can get past them or if i should get a new 352 block and have it bored to the 390.......any suggestions will help.

I had a 67 352 bored .060 over with a slightly more than mild cam. I could not keep the thing from running hot to save my life. Completely oversized cooling system with a low-gear, high-reving engine. Probably needed like a 5000 cfm fan on that thing.

I will not bore one of these blocks that far again for a driver.

well the bore it has at the moment it runs cold if ne thing...

If the rest of the block is okay, just sleeve that one.
A 390 is a 352 block bored .050, and a longer stroke. A 50-over 352 is a 360.

....There's a good article on re-sleeving cylinders in the Summer '06 issue of Engine Masters magazine. This is a 'spin off' magazine of Popular Hot Rodding. You might check on line to see if the article is reprinted there..... Bill

i too have a 352 with bored .60 over with a .530 lift .280 dutation cam forged 10:1 pistons edelbrock intake and headers my motor is the coolest running car i have i have never seen it go over 200 usually on a hot day like today down here in georgia it will idle around 160 to 170 i put a 160 thermostat in it and it made all the difference

My 65 352 is bored .060" over and runs cool all day long.

You say its bored to 390, or close. I take that to mean its 4.050 bore, which is .050 over the 352 bore. If you go another .060, that's .110 over stock. That's a bit much, don't you think? I'd go for a sleeve in that cylinder, or find a real 390.

FE's used to be my engine of choice and I never had one run hot. 60 over is as far as I ever had one.