regular 302 and a HO roller 302 appearance differences
 

I got a question from a friend of mine that wants to know if there is anyway you can tell the difference between a regular 302 and a roller 302 just by looking at the engine or do you have to pull the intake off to look to see if there are roller lifters in the engine.

Please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Matt,
Jacksonville, FL

Matt, The sure way is to pull the intake and that way you can also see if theres any sludge built up in the valley
Bill

They have different firing orders.

The HO and non HO motors have different firing orders, there are non HO motors that are roller. 87-88 cougar/t-bird have non HO roller. If you know what car it is out of we might be able to tell you. But if it's been transplanted, who knows.