Prep for Track Weekend!

Wheel is off, let's change those brake pads. 

Whew, it's halfway into February, (plus or minus leap year day in 2024) and finally time to do some driving on track this weekend. I'm looking forward to two days at Carolina Motorsports Park and going out and having some fun. From looking at all the other drivers that are signed up, there will be a good number of people in my HPDE 2 group, and we'll be on track for 4 or 5 sessions each day. There's even some other Porsche's in my group, so look for an update on how it turns out next week. The weather is looking dry, temps into the 50s during the afternoon, so that sounds great to me! Whatever you do this weekend, have fun, and be safe!

Here's the normal view, let's take some of this stuff apart. 

My main prep for this event was checking the car out this week with swapping in my best set of front brake pads this afternoon, checking the wheels for torque, and also the brake fluid. Last week I did an oil change, and a short drive this afternoon felt really good, so the car should be ready. I still have to pack up some stuff for the weekend, and with track driving it's good to have extra goodies like another set of brake pads, and whatever tools would be needed for those brake pads. I'll take along some food and water to keep the driver going, as well as safety gear like a tow hook, helmet, gloves, etc. One new item for this event is a digital GPS lap timer, the AIM Solo 2, so I'm looking forward to getting more feedback and data from this device and using it to help me go faster. 

Here's a quick look at how easy it is to swap out brake pads on this car: 

Using some pliers to pull out the cotter pin.

I've taken the pin halfway out of the back of the calipers, it was held in by the cotter pin, and held the piece under it which holds down on top of the two brake pads. 

With the pin all the way out, just grab the metal retainer that sits on top of the brake pads. 

Just grab one of the two brake pads and lift out.
PRO TIP: The side of the brake pad with the material on it goes TOWARDS THE ROTOR!

One pad out, one more to remove. 

Grabbing the 2nd brake pad. 

2nd brake pad lifter out, this is an ATE brand. 
WARNING: DO NOT EAT!

A quick peek at the thickness of the pads I just removed, they're in great shape, but not designed to hold up to track driving.