I don't know how the serial numbers work, Deejay. It appears the first letter in the model number is V or H for vertical or horizontal crankshaft, the second is simply K for Kirby (i.e. made under licence by James N. Kirby) and the final two numbers are the alleged horsepower. The serial numbers seem to have been Kirby's, not Tecumseh-Lauson's, so you could only break the code on them by use of information from the Kirby company.
Fortunately I haven't yet encountered an Alroh Imp with a Lauson engine - they used Briggs, even back in 1962, when they must have been paying a lot of import duty to do so.
