glad you & your brick didn't have any damage...

as for the steering being out of line, you may have wrenched the wheel a bit hard when it was at full lock, and it moved the steering rack a little. I look after a clubbie for a friend, and she hit a curb once and it moved the rack about 2mm, which was enough to turn the steering wheel about 1/4 of a turn. I tracked it down through checking everything else, the U bolts were on an angle through the holes in the floor, and the steering rack spline coming through the floor wasn't in the centre of the big hole. I slackened off the U bolts, jiggled it back to centre and did them up again, job's right.... so to check this one, pull up your carpet and see how well centred the steering column is in the big hole where it comes through the floor. If it's not in the centre, there are 2 nuts on the firewall above the footwell on each side, undo them a little, use a big screwdriver to pry the column across, and do them up again (tight, but don't strip them!)

if the rack has actually moved, there's a good chance the nuts are a little loose anyway

Hmmm I think I should check that... My steering wheel was a little bit off centre after I hit a curb trying to clutch start my car by myself
Shut up.... *you* try jumping into a moving car at speed with a race seat and very low steering wheel. Not that easy as it turned out!

haha - don't worry, we've all been there, or the young-uns that haven't will be there soon enough

If we're talking 10inch tyres, i didn;t think the Yokie A008s were actually that great in the rain. They are good in the dry, though. I have another 'shitter' mini, and its absolutely rooted. Yet, i can still make it spin the wheels up and understeer in the wet with the A008s. Doesn't sound like much wet traction to me. Its been so long since i owned a 10inch wheeled mini with any different tyres. I used to have Bridgestones on the back, and Falkens on the front of my Van, and that seemed great. Maybe my memory is serving me wrong.

Yet, the Yokie A539s (12inch) are great wet or dry in the LS... But with the new motor i can spin them in 3rd in the dry. Even more fun in the wet. Hehehe

Don't stress too much, i'm sure it'll just be something simple with the wheel alignment/steering rack. And yes, four new shockies, bushes, wheel bearings, and grease it all up (don't forget the trailing arms at the back) and you won't know yourself. It completely transforms a car.

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Haha..yea i did that for over 2weeks when my starter crap itself ..Got pretty good at it by the end..we're lucky mini's have gutters to hold onto ..At first i nearly broke an ankle..fell out of the car..and missed the entrance whacking the knee a few times

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Obviously not harls ey Haha sorry but u walked into that one

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What are the specs of the motor?, that would be one hell of a motor, I drove GR's Stroker 1400 which put out 80HP atw on the dyno..about the best we got here in syd for the A-series.. and I don't remember it being able to spin the wheels in third in a straight line..maybe with some lock on?..Certainly spun through 1st and second

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Yeah, if i'm coming out of a fast corner in second (about 70 kmh? I don't have time to look at the speedo) It will caertainly spin into 3rd, but it'll keep spinning 3rd in the wet to about 6000rpm in a straight line.

Specs:
1293, about 10.5:1, balanced, lightened, Kent 286MD Scatter cam, 45 DCOE, medium port job, LCBs, 1-7/8 exhaust, JunBL straight through muffler (V. loud).

Seems to do the job fine to me.

It hasn't been tuned since it was built, but that'll be next weeks job.

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Cheap, Fast, Reliable. Choose two.

Yer its tuff.
Just rained here... yep the Bridgey Sneakers spin up just fine.

Yeah I once had the starter motor go bad on me - kept half engaging when I was driving along - so we took in out for the trip home. Clutch started it fine (I'm very good at it when I have someone to push ), then turned to my mate, oh I forgot I have to get petrol He wasn't impressed but we proved much to the amazement of onlookers that the small petrol station car park was plenty of room to start it.... when it kicked in second gear I had it full lock and spun it round in a circle so I didn't hit anything

The slightly more annoying time was when Christoph's Mini wouldn't kick over, starter motor would seize and when we tried clutching it down the driveway in reverse all it would do was lock the wheels and slide! Not sure why, think it may have been compression locked from flooding & I believe the gasket was on the way out and one of the cylinders may have been full of water. Finally got it started pushing it down the street, and thankyou Chris, I happened to be running behind the exhaust, ruined my shoes and jeans with exhaust spray Bloody exhaust has a range of 3+ metres

my experience with bridgestone sf226 on each corner was ok in the wet and dry for a cheap price, falken Fk06g was not that good, and the 539's are the best tyre i've driven on any car. And i've never mixed tyre brands on the one car.

im my experience mini's should leave bog cars (non 4wd) for dead in the wet, think monte carlo rally.

i think if the back tyres broke traction first you would be pulled straight by the front tyres because you were accelerating..
so it sounds like an oily road and less than ideal tyre combo, maybe check shocks too.
minis should definately blow away the competition in the dry and especially the wet

I don't know which Mini you drive but mine certainly doesn't like wet weather I remember driving my fathers Integra R down to Melbourne pouring down with rain and he said to me that it must be really hard driving a car that actually handles the wet Overtaking the trucks was okay, I just floored it, but if it was the same situation in the Mini the trucks would have blown me off the road!

However I think my cars problems are (in this order): on the bump stops on one side, hydrospastic suspension, and crap tyres. I bet I'll be all surprised when I sort the supension out properly and put some A008s all round

beautiful ride on the hydro, when all working properly.
whether driving my gf's clubby on 145's or mine on 165's, i still drive them just as fast in the wet