Oh I see rich, so it could actually be there somewhere...

Could you confirm that I am looking in the correct location and I could take some close up pictures and wire brush some more.

On the third picture down its stamped on the block on the flat area next to the fly wheel and the crank sensor housing, yours looks quite rusty, I been told the correct way to read it was to use a uv light and sum die

Thanks, I will see what I can do with it.
I will try get some dye and uv light if not too expensive

Gave it a good wire brushing yesterday but the metal is very pitted due to corrosion I can just make out one number so there was something there at some point.
Still struggling to make anything out when we zooming in on computer.
I will try smoothing the surface with emery paper and hopefully there will be something left but I have my doubts.
Without engine number am I wasting my time and will need another engine?

You could also try etching to get the engine number to show up better.

Theres a guide here, you will need some etching acid but it would probably be worth a try before buying a new engine.

Cheers
Stot

Ah ha!
Quick rub down and now i'm getting somewhere.
I have EYDE _ _ _ 4 6 3 5 Σ

So that proves it is a 1.8 anyway.

Some of them i'm not quite sure of but the centre is really bad and don't want to rub down too far.
Any idea where to get the acid?

I bought my last bottle of hydrochloric acid (17%) from http://mistralni.co.uk this is basically a 50/50 mix already but In the instructions link I posted it also says..

So maybe a local spa or pool place would be easier.

If you are going to do this follow all the proper safety precautions, if diluting add the HCL acid to water not water to acid, but from the sound of it this could pull out the last few numbers.

Cheers
Stot

Thanks very much. Will order a bottle.
Just had a look but can only see 10 or 28 percent.

I wasn't sure about the different percentages or how to mix them and I found some concentrated pretty cheap so will just mix 50/50 as the guide says.

Fingers crossed. I will get some before and after pictures if it works.

Sorry, concentrated HCL is around 35-38% so you are looking for around half that as a final acid so 17% is about right.

I would suggest just doing a couple of ml of solution, you only need to rub a little on the area so dont need to mix much at all.

Good luck!

Cheers
Stot