Ah, I was reading further, and see that unless the engine came from a hyradamatic car, it will have solid lifters.
The Hydra-Matic was used in trucks and the Powerglide was used in cars (at least up to 1956). Nonetheless, a 235 engine in a Powerglide-equipped car (except for a Corvette) would have had hydraulic lifters.
The later 235s had that higher compression head and maybe a higher lift cam and a different carburetor compared to earlier 235s. No matter the details of the differences, the engines do indeed perform noticeably different.
