Chevy 350's from 87 and up have center bolt valve covers. I understand that some of these engines have roller cams and lifters. Is there any way to tell which ones have the roller cam without taking them apart?
im sure there is a way just by looking at it, or take the distributor out and look down in their with a flashlight, or run the block numbers on the back of the motor, or the numbers on the pad on the deck surface by the water pump.
They are all machined for it, but don't all have the parts. I had a 87 305 roller, and a 90 350 with no roller, identical oil galley. One had more stuff bolted in. i saved the mortec listing, see below for reference. 14011148...350...87-89.......Roller cam, one-piece rear seal 14016376...267...79-82...2 14016379...350...77-79...2 or 4 14016381...305...80-84...2 14016382...305...79-84...2 14016383...305...80-85...2...Truck 14079287...350...86-90.......Truck 14088526...350...87-89.......Roller cam, one-piece rear seal 14088548...350...86-88...2 or 4 14088551...305...86-87...2...one-piece rear main seal 14093627...305...87-94...2...Roller or flat tappet cam, one-piece rear seal 14093638...350...87-95...2 or 4...Roller or flat tappet cam, one-piece rear seal 14094766...305...86-up...2...One-piece rear seal 14101147...305...85-up...2 14101148...350...86-90...4...One-piece rear seal 14102058...305...87-91...2...Roller cam, one-piece rear seal </pre>
Not all '87 and up blocks will accept the roller stuff ... been there, done that. I had an '87 block with "stepped" lifter bores that did not allow the use of factory roller lifters. Remove a valve cover and look down one of the pushrod holes into the valley (using a flashlight). You will be able to see whether it has the roller stuff this way. SOME of the '87 and up blocks will be flat-tappet but will allow conversion to factory roller and some don't allow it. Search out an old post I put up quite a while ago and you will find pictures of the "stepped" lifter bores I speak of. The only way to determine (as far as I know) whether an '87 and up flat-tappet block will accept the roller lifters would be to remove the intake and check the lifter bores.
This method requires "some" disassembly. Remove a push rod and measure. Roller cam pushrod is 7.200" (7 1/4") long . Flat tappet is 7.800" (about 7 13/16") long. This is a sure fire way to tell, and a lot easier, and faster than pulling an intake or timing cover.
As a general rule, if the engine came out of a car, it's a roller. The truck engines had flat tappet cams
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