Ford of Canada 1958 VIN decoding - Engine Code?
Several items on the engine pictured suggest parts from a post-'66 FE, such as no surge tank and use of the thermostat retainer/radiator hose neck ('66-'67 and newer), the air cleaner ('67?) and the vacuum advance on the distributor. 'Bald' valve covers look correct for '58 with no "FORD" stamped into them, though there were versions with the spark plug wire 'combs' in the middle of the cover that used individual wire grommets instead at the front with the plastic wire retainer 'combs' for a left/right pair.
If you look at your data plate again, it says the 8-cylinder engine number (probably a consecutive number with the two-digit engine code at the beginning?) is stamped on the engine left front face, while the 6-cylinder is on the right rear side. Is there a number stamped on the front of your engine?
As I noted earlier, for '60 Ford of Canada (FoC) was using a two-character code in the VIN, with letter prefix and letter/number suffix, in the VIN to indicate engine/transmission and whether the car was LHD or RHD. There was also a two- or three-letter code that was used on a tag applied to the engine, similar to the foundry tags used on US-assembled engines.
However, as others have noted, FoC used a '6' or '8' preceding the letter character for the engine type ('6' for 6-cylinder, '8' for 8-cylinder) with a letter following to designate engine displacement, what were those codes? For sake of brevity (and my sanity), I'm not going to get into the '60 VIN engine codes here as there's a LOT of them because of the 2-digit letter/number combination that takes into account the carburetion/drivetrain/steering arrangements used.
The listing for '58 engine codes I found in '58 FoC catalogs I have in my collection did not have the VIN engine code breakdown, but it did have the two-letter codes associated with engine ID tags. There was no 'AK' or any two-digit combination of letters with a 'K', leading me to suspect that another code was used in the VIN. The '60 FoC catalog I have didn't have the 'AK'/'K' code in it for the engine tag and VIN, either. So, what does '8', 'A' and 'K' stand for in the VIN? Or is the first digit of the VIN a single-character engine code? Without the FoC catalogs and info on how to decipher the '58 VINs, I can't say.
What the '58 FoC chassis parts catalog did have listed for engine ID codes breaks down as follows. All the catalogs I have list the two-letter ID engine tag code, and none had VIN code for the engine. Note that all the engine ID codes start with a 'W' - I think this indicates 1958 model year production for the engine ('60 FoC engine ID codes used a 'Z' code prefix and then switched to 'N' for 1961).
Please be aware that the letter following the # of cylinders was not in the catalogs: I have used the suffix from the '58 two-letter FoC engine codes until someone can feed me a list of what the actual Canadian codes are.
ENGINE ID TAG CODE - # CYLS./WARRANTY PLATE CODE - C.I.D.-CARB/TRANS - Compression

1) - MODEL
WF 6
F 223-1v A/T 8.6 A-Custom 300, Niagara 300, Wagons, Fairlane, Rideau Fairlane 500, Rideau 500 (exc Skyliner & Conv)
WF 6
F 223-1v S/T (11" Clutch) 8.6 A-Custom 300, Niagara 300, Wagons, Fairlane, Rideau Fairlane 500, Rideau 500 (exc Skyliner & Conv)
WF 6
F 223-1v S/T (9.5" Clutch) 8.6 A-Custom 300, Niagara 300, Wagons, Fairlane, Rideau Fairlane 500, Rideau 500 (exc Skyliner & Conv)
WF 6
F 223-1v S/T (9.5" Clutch) 7.2 A-RHD (Low Compression)
WF 6
F 223-1v S/T (9.5" Clutch) 8.6 A-RHD (High Compression)
WF 6
F 223-1v S/T (11" Clutch) 7.2 A-RHD (Low Compression)
WZ 8
H 352-4v A/T 10.2 FE S-Thunderbird
WM 8
M 332-2v S/T (11" Clutch) 9.5 FE A-Fairlane, Rideau, Wagons
WM 8
M 332-2v A/T 9.5 FE A-Fairlane, Rideau, Wagons
WM 8
M 332-2v S/T (11" Clutch) 9.5 FE
WM 8
M 332-2v A/T 9.5 FE
WM 8
M 332-2v S/T 9.5 FE A-RHD (High Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v A/T 9.5 FE A-RHD (High Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v S/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v A/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v S/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v S/T 9.5 FE A-RHD (High Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v A/T 9.5 FE A-RHD (High Compression)
WM 8
M 332-2v A/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 9.5 FE A-LHD power option, Custom 300, Niagara 300, Fairlane 500, Rideau 500
WN 8
N 332-4v A/T 9.5 FE A-LHD power option, Custom 300, Niagara 300, Fairlane 500, Rideau 500
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 9.5 FE A-LHD power option, Custom 300, Niagara 300, Fairlane 500, Rideau 500
WN 8
N 332-4v A/T 9.5 FE A-LHD power option, Custom 300, Niagara 300, Fairlane 500, Rideau 500
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 9.5 FE A-RHD (High Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v A/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v A/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 9.5 FE A-RHD (High Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v S/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WN 8
N 332-4v A/T 7.9 FE A-RHD (Low Compression)
WP 8
P 361-4v S/T 10.5 FE A-Fairlane, Rideau, Wagons, Fairlane 500, Rideau 500, Sedan Delivery
WP 8
P 361-4v A/T 10.5 FE A-Fairlane, Rideau, Wagons, Fairlane 500, Rideau 500, Sedan Delivery
WQ 8
Q 272-2v S/T (10" Clutch) 8.6 Ford Y-Block A-Custom 300, Niagara 300
WQ 8
Q 272-2v S/T or O/D (11" Clutch) 8.6 Ford Y-Block A-Custom 300, Niagara 300
WQ 8
Q 272-2v A/T 8.6 Ford Y-Block A-Custom 300, Niagara 300
WQ 8
Q 272-2v S/T (11" Clutch) 7.1 Ford Y-Block A-RHD (Low Compression)
WQ 8
Q 272-2v S/T (10" Clutch) 8.6 Ford Y-Block A-RHD (High Compression)
WQ 8
Q 272-2v S/T 8.6 Ford Y-Block A-RHD (High Compression)
WQ 8
Q 272-2v ?/T 7.1 Ford Y-Block A-RHD (Low Compression)
WQ 8
Q 272-2v A/T 8.6 Ford Y-Block A-RHD (High Compression)
WT 8
T 292-2v ?/T 9.1 Ford Y-Block A-Country Squire
The above listings were assuming use of the second letter in the Canadian Engine ID Tag codes after the cylinder-number in the VIN per 1960 practice.
Without having the full FoC listings, I don't know if FoC used the US-issued engine VIN codes or different letters for the engine CID-HP-Carb Type-Transmission Type-Compression Ratio ID.
Now, if it was just 'K' for the engine code I'd suspect that maybe a Ford of USA code was used, but 'K' from that period was for a MEL-series 430-4v used in Mercurys. As noted by a previous poster, if 'A' was the engine code following the '6' in the first group of numbers, it probably would mean a 223-1v Inline 6-cylinder.
For reference, Ford-USA engine data plate codes from '58 break down as follows:
# Cyls - Eng Code - CID-Carb - Trans - Eng Family - Model Line
6 A 223-1v S/T, A/T I-6 Full-Size (Except Skyliner/Sunliner)
8 B 332-2v S/T, A/T FE Full-Size
8 C 292-2vS/T, A/T Y-Blk Full-Size
8 G 332-4v S/T, A/T FE Full-Size-Special; T-bird (Export)
8 H 352-4v S/T, A/T FE Full-Size Power Option; T-Bird (Std)
8 W 361-4v S/T, A/T FE Full-Size-Police
Mercury data plate engine codes for 1958:
8 ? 312-4v A/T-S/R, S/T, O/D Y-Blk Mercury (?-Need engine code)
8 ? 430-6v M/D MEL Mercury - Super Marauder (?-Need engine code)
8 K 430-4v M/D MEL Mercury
8 M 383-4v A/T-S/R, M/D MEL Mercury
8 M 383-4v* A/T-S/R, M/D MEL Mercury *Modified
8 M 383-4v A/T-S/R, M/D MEL Mercury
8 M 383-4v A/T-S/R, S/T, O/D MEL Mercury
8 M 383-4v* A/T-S/R, S/T, O/D MEL Mercury *Modified
8 P 312-2v A/T-S/R, S/T, O/D Y-Blk Mercury
Again, finding a FoC '58 Chassis Parts Catalog/MPC which has a full listing of the VIN engine codes and body styles would help. And I would appreciate copies of the listings of '50s FoC or Ford of Australia engine codes and warranty plate information, especially 1959 (since I'm missing '59 FoC catalogs in my collection along with pre-'58s).