When purchase secondhand DMP513A had a Taurus conversion which was a 28/36 down draught weber carb on a gas flowed head.998cc

Colour originally blue

I had it re-spayed 2 tone metallic using Rolls Royce colours silver upper half and roof and blue lower half.

I managed to get a 970cc “S” old engine that had been returned on exchange and paid the surcharge BMC would have charged.

It was bored out to plus 40 with flat top pistons and the cylinder head was modified by the boys I knew at Speedwell in Finchley. Lightweight flywheel and the whole unit balanced. CR was just over11-1 n a road car which caused detonation and overheating in traffic queues in the warm weather until modifications were carried out. Extra radiator using a heater matrix and expansion tank from Austin 1100.

Ended up with H4 SU twins with ST trumpets having tried the Speedwell Amals as well, but both set ups iced up /froze up in cold weather as neither had filters. You could go back at midday when temperature had warmed up and the car would start.

The mini crowd I was associated would all put 649 camshafts in their 1275 cars for the power and lumpy tickover but I was staying with under 1000cc for insurance purposes. Even the MOT people put the engine capacity down as 997 as they had probably never heard of 970cc.

I fitted AEG510 latest S standard camshaft in the end and 4.1 diff on S ratio gears which meant the car would pull like a train up to 80 mph and above. Many other parts went on and off this car like speedwell rockers and different camshafts but not many cars could match the acceleration. Suspension was standard apart from lowering the front extremely to let the rear slide nicely and the dampers were Armstrong which I believe only had 4 adjustments which made adjustment easy.