The date code is in raised letters on the ledge above the starter motor. It can be seen from below,
Engine block codes
The Ford casting number always starts with the 'Decade' character. Ford started using this structure in the late 50's with the first letter being 'B' . In the 60's the letter changed to 'C' and 'D' for the 70's and so on. The Decade digit is always followed by the 'Year' number. The combination of Decade and Year indicate the actual model year the part was originally designed for.
First character (a letter)
B= 50's C= 60's D= 70's E= 80's
Second character (a number)
Year of decade
e.g. C9is 1969
Third character
Car model
E,g.
A – full size Ford
D – Falcon, Maverick
E – Truck
L – Lincoln
M – Mercury
O – Fairlane, Torino
S – Thunderbird
Z – Mustang
W - Cougar
Fourth character
Engineered component
E = engine
The second group of characters refers to the part of the car. In this case the engine.
Cheers
Mike