Thanks for that bigdel, thats the only stamped number I can find and is about 10mm from the top of the block on the front of the engine, just above the water pump pulley.
I do see on my own car that the chassis number tells me it is a July 86.
The reason I need the year of the engine is because it is a requirement for the nct(Irish mot) that the year of manufacture be known of the donor engine so as to determine what the emissions should be.