newbie engine question

Go here, http://www.cardomain.com/register Free web hostoing of your photos, you can create a link here to go dirctly to your photos or attach them to your post.

A 302 and 351W will have the thermostat mounted vertically, 6 valve cover bolts (each cover), and fuel pump mounting bolts in a horizontal plane. A 351C will have a thermostat mounted in a horizontal plane, 8 valve cover bolts (each cover), and a fuel pump with the mounting bolts in a vertical orientation.

Without any other ID, the only way I know of to tell the difference between the 302 and the 351W is the height of the deck. You could measure from the oil pan mounting surface the the head gasket. Hard to measure, but my 302 block is close to 5". Hope this helps.

So there's no VIN on a little metal plate on the dash at the base of the windshield? The middle letter there should tell you what engine your car came with (i.e. H, F, M, etc).

A quick visual identification of a 302 vs 351W vs 351C will be valve covers (you can set a ball on the 351C valve cover and it won't roll off, plus it has 8 bolts, not the 6 like the 302 and 351W) and the thermostat in the 351C will be on the timing chain cover. This is in addition to the info listed above by 66HertzClone. The 351W will have ribs coming from the distributor area toward the timing chain cover, but the 302 will not.
Daniel