so i bought my car of a this guy in november last year

1986 Camaro /w ttops
he told me it origanaly had a 305 in it but he blew it
so he put a 350 tpi in the car but i dont know the year of the engine and niether does he because he had a shop swap the engine out in 1996

so how can i find the year of the engine?

 

Goto the passenger cylinder head at the front of the motor. There should be a small lip right there where the block and head meet. Remove the grease and crud from the lip. You should see the VIN number of the vehicle that your motor came out of. Just decode the VIN from there. 10th spot from the left tells you the year and 8th spot from the left tells you engine type.