After 293,000 miles, my good ole 302 finally died. So I'm looking to perform an engine swap. Its the std 302 FI ~ nothing fancy.

The problem is that my truck was mfg'd in Apr of 1987. It doesn't give an exact date in April, just 'April.'

Well, I found out that the 302 was changed a bit, or modified in April of 1987, and I need to know what engine I have. Everywhere I go to look for a Reman, or parts to do it myself, I'm asked if it was built before 4/15/87 or after 4/16/87. I don't have a clue! Even the dealer cannot tell me with a VIN decode. UGH! They tell me their computer databases don't go back that far! I was also told to check the label on my left valve cover to see if the engine family was listed. Well, on an 18 y/o truck, you can well imagine that the label has long since faded and is unreadable.

According to my VIN, the engine code is N. Beyond that, I don't know.

Can anyone offer any advice on what to look for? Any specific details on, perhaps, a particular connection, placement of a part or sensor, or wire, or anything that might help me distinguish my engine from the other April 1987 engine?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Well lets put it this way, if your just replacing the short block assembly, it make little difference. But it must be a truck assembly because the cams are different from a car engine. This is the most important because the cam is flat tappet, has shorter cam timing and the old 302 fire order as opposed to the 5L roller tappet cam with an HO fire order. You cannot interchange them.
Easy to see the difference with the lower intake removed.
Get the heads rebuilt and go.