Reading this article about Bevan I discovered more about the early days - he was a genuine a 'tour de force'
A correction is in order: Bevan worked at Repco research and Leyland Australia before he worked at ULR, his boss at Repco was the famous Charlie Dean.
https://www.4wdvictoria.org.au/image..._September.pdf
And, more info has come to light. Bevan mentioned, while he working at RR, he had been involved in 'hotting' up Holden grey engines . Bevan did the porting jobs on the modified Holden heads among other things.
https://adagia.org/content/1893