They all sound fairly minor niggles......as for your sharp left hander........check your exhaust
I bet it is the tailpipe nudging the exhaust heat shield. Mine does that frequently whenever I go to a certain place where there is a pot hole for the o/s to clobber........the exhaust is then jarred into the shield
Brakes........well you got some choices......MG Rover ones or as quite a few seem to head for......the Mintex route.
Bet you can't wait to get the beast back eh!
Jim