I have a high mileage ls1, and found my most wore cylinder to be 3.901 in diameter.... Question, is a hone only good enough? Or should I just bore, and buy pistons to match. I'm sure someone has run into this dilemma before. . Thank you....

 

It just needs a hone. I wouldn't consider boring unless you need to go .030" over, which isn't recommended on LS1 blocks.

 

Mine is. 010 over with mahle powerpak pistons. I haven't had any issues. Comes down to how much you want to spend. The pistons I found in my 02 SS when I did the heads go for about $700- 800. But I'm sure you can find cheaper ones if your on a budget or you might be able to just hone the walls and be fine with the stock pistons.

 

A basic hone would be cost effective and I will just buy stock type pistons.

 

You can get replacement hypereutectic pistons in 3.903",3.905", and 3.908"
As KCS stated, boring/honing is only needed when going up a considerable amount in bore size. In your situation, take the new pistons to the shop with the block and they will just power hone; most likely in 2 or 3 stages (different stones).
I simply would not just ball hone it and put the stock pistons back in, sure it would run but certainly would not be ideal ;noisy on start up and use oil.

 

^ A hone would certainly be a good idea just not a ball hone. If the motor were low miles and the thrust side wasn't too worn OoR a ball would be fine. But in high mileage you want a proper hone where it is adjusted to the tightest spot in the bore and you loosen that area up and keep going until the bore is round again. Usually no more than .002-.003" is needed which is why I'd go to a 3.903" piston. That way down the road you can hone to 3.905" if you ever need to.