.well ppl hows it hanging? got a mini gt and i want to put 13 inch by 7 mini lites on it, i was told that i had to trim the archs to let them fit. is this true and if so by how much do i have to trim them by?

Buy the arch spats that you like (not Sportpack replicas .... naff on a Clubby ... or anything really), mount them, mark around the inside of them then remove them.

Mark a second line about 10 to 15 mm inside (ie. leaving more metal) and cut to this line. Bend this edge up to 90 degrees (inwards looks best) to form a new lip to give the panel and bit of rigidity back. You might need to slightly knotch the edge to stop it rippling

Paint the areas where you have attacked the metal work. Re-mount the arch and bolt on the wheels ... job done.

6" wide wheels will sort the handling, 7" wide will ruin it. I run 13 x 6 on ET15 offset and they are the daddy (some people say ET13 but if you work the geometry out you will find ET15 is spot on)

If you have any other Mini questions then U2U me, I've been tuning Mini's for nearly 20 years which isn't bad when you consider I'm only 30 this year!!

My last Mini was a 214BHP turbo, currently got a 134BHP nat asp 1380cc which idles nicely, drives like a pussy cat and devistates tracks ... (all in the details..)

Next build will be another turbo, with full management (yes it can be done ... no I'm not telling you how just yet) and some very custom bodywork...