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The twin fuel tanks were reusable but
Peter recalls, “They were a bit rusted on
the inside so I chemically cleaned them
and put in a seal to avoid future rust.”
He wanted to fit Aston-style fuel filler
caps but, at the time, he could not source
them within Europe. Eventually he found
a supplier in Australia and imported them.
The Cooper S was reassembled and
ready for its first rally in May 2016.in Jaguar Battleship Grey (JA001) with
an Old English White (WT3) roof, it was
assembled on its rolling subframes,
then returned to Peter’s home to be
reassembled. He installed a Safety
Devices six-point rollcage, a pair of
Cobra Suzuka Pro GRP high-back front
bucket seats, trimmed in light blue cloth,
and Sabelt four-point harnesses before
turning his attention to the wiring.
With the intention of fitting a rally-
style dashboard with an assortment of
instruments and switches, he realised
he had lots of equipment to wire up and
that the old loom needed to be replaced.
“The loom was old and, of course,
not prepared for rallies and all the new
gadgets,” he says. “So I made the loom
myself. At first I was very reserved to
do this but it turned out as one of the
things I liked the most.” Peter used
Microsoft PowerPoint to create his
wiring diagrams and help him plan
the work required to connect all of the
instruments and switches. He also had
to include more fuses and relays.
“For night rallies we fitted two Cibié
Super Oscar spotlights with 110-watt
bulbs,” he explains. “I also changed the
standard driving lights to 90-watt bulbs
so, instead of two fuses, the car now
has 12, together with eight relays and
another two relays for the flashers.”
Held in Belgium, it wasn’t as successful
as he had hoped. After 30km (18.64
miles), a rubber strip on the side of
the radiator broke off and caught the
fan, damaging it, so the Cooper S had
to retire. The next event was the four-
day Dutch Mini Rally, organised by Mini
specialist Ben van Leeuwen, which
Peter and his Cooper S completed.
Peter also owns a Mk2 Austin HealeyMiniWorld July 2019 29
Cibié Super Oscar spotlights are
equipped with 110-watt bulbs
to assist with night rallies.
Oil catch tank is
mounted on the
passenger side
inner wing of the
engine bay.