What year motor?

[THEPATRIOT]

I picked up a 1986 parts car that i was told has a newer motor in it.How can i determine the exact year?Thanks(it has mass air)

 

[Rick 91GT]

I picked up a 1986 parts car that i was told has a newer motor in it.How can i determine the exact year?Thanks(it has mass air)

Pull the casting number of the side of the block...

 

[THEPATRIOT]

Pull the casting number of the side of the block...

Where is the # exactly?

 

[SpartaPerformance]

It's literally on the side of the block, it should start with a letter to signify the decade, for example "F" would be the 80's and then the year "F8" would be 1988

 

[Mustang5L5]

Even easier and will give us a range.

Look at the casting number on the lower intake just behind the distributor. I beleive there are a ver revisions to the lower over the years so it will tell us at least a year span.

Easier than looking at the block

 

[FoxChasis]

Don't bother with engineering numbers (what people are calling "casting numbers"). They are not updated every year so they are not going to tell you what year the block/head/intake/etc. is. They also are not going to tell you what the block/head/intake/etc. was originally in. The engineering number only tells you what the part was originally engineered for, e.g. an E6SE block was originally engineered for a 1986 Thunderbird. Blocks, heads, intake, cams, etc. are all shared between different models.

The date casting will tell you the day, month, and year the part was cast but again, not what it was originally in.

There is a partial VIN stamped to the block. That WILL tell you the year and model that the block was originally in. It's either on the driver-side rear of the block, below the deck on cylinder #8, OR it's on the top-rear of the block, on a flat pad behind the lifter valley seal.