Rally 12 Track Day Tip #1


Not only were people hitting limp mode on a regular basis, clutch pedals were going out and Ralphie burned his starter wire. It was very hot, and I guess you had to be there. At rally 2, in good weather mountain driving, a lot of clutch pedals went out and needed to cool off. It is wise to change the fluids.
 
Thermal expansion was the issue for me with the brake fluid. Was running DOT 4 ATE Blue and fluid was being sprayed all over the compartment. Lowered the fluid level about a 1/4 inch below max and that solved my issues.(Thank you Mr McGowan) Car did go into limp mode at 242F.
Removing the front grill (running no grill) solved the temp problems. Thanks to Kendall and Terry. :)
This was with a new 12 Boss LS.
Ambient temp was over 100F for most the day. Track temp was well north of that. A little cloud cover would be nice this year.
 
Great and helpful discussion. I will dearly miss all of you at the rally, but will be thinking of you and looking forward to seeing pictures of the GT's both new and classic.
 
Time to take action on changing my brake/clutch fluids. Paging through both shop and owners manuals, I still haven't found the capacities for either of these systems listed. How much should I buy, also accounting for loss/waste in doing the change?

And a second rally-related Q: I've heard of event-day-specific insurance since the usual insurance probably excludes track/racing events. Are others buying this sort of coverage, and any leads on sources?

TIA and see you in just 4 weeks!
 
A quart should do it. Track insurance is very expensive and not good coverage overall for our cars. There is an extensive thread here about it. Talk to Drew at Classic car insurance in Indy.
 
Fresh oil and brake fluid today. Whats the recommend tire pressure for Bridgestones on track.
 
I would suggest shooting for 31-33 psi hot.

Scott Ahlman or Mark McGowan will be at the rally and may have better guidance. They did a lot of tire testing with the 05-06 program with the OE Goodyears. But also did development work on Scott's damper package for the 05-06 GT's on Bridgestones.

Raj made a similar suggestion for the new GT's which have Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires which are different from the Bridgestones.
 
Checked pads, swapped front to back. Pushed about 3/4 of a liter of SRF through the brake system, checked axle torque, fresh Hoosiers, bled replaced w nitrogen, torqued lug nuts, changed original battery. Bleed clutch tomorrow, check the oil, load it up w some light tools and other gear, almost ready for pick up.
 
[video=youtube;henzBbLarE4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=henzBbLarE4[/video]
 
Specracer said:
checked axle torque, .
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Pls add some detail, so I know what this is referring to? Thx
 
Back wheels off, 36mm socket, it's the axle shaft nut. You will need a second person, to pull the e brake, and stand on the brake pedal to keep the assembly from turning. Shop manual says 258 ft lbs (if I recall), my torque wrench only goes to 200, so that what I checked to.


Beez said:
Pls add some detail, so I know what this is referring to? Thx
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DBK said:
[video=youtube;henzBbLarE4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=henzBbLarE4[/video]
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks for sharing! Wonder if we can ask them to drop a cone at corner apex/turn-in, as they do at Ford Performance schools?
 
Cobrar said:
Awesome, thanks for sharing! Wonder if we can ask them to drop a cone at corner apex/turn-in, as they do at Ford Performance schools?
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The cones are a good learning tool and a great idea especially for the novice group.
 
very good... I like the outer track. can really 'stretch the legs' on our cars.

Turn in cones and braking cones are good for everyone.
Each lap is good 'practice' !
andy (ajb)
 
One other tip: In my experience with Porsche Club events, on a high-speed track, either install new brake pads or bring an extra set.
 
Or start with pads intended for the track. I used Mintex, and Padgid blacks, they didnt survive. Padgid yellows do.

Nola I had some take off pads that were given to a forum member that was using "duralast" pads because of their lack of dust. They VAPORIZED very quickly.

PeteK said:
One other tip: In my experience with Porsche Club events, on a high-speed track, either install new brake pads or bring an extra set.
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And a stupid detail to anyone bleeding their own brakes, our calipers have 2 bleeding point, one on each side of the caliper.
 
Specracer said:
And a stupid detail to anyone bleeding their own brakes, our calipers have 2 bleeding point, one on each side of the caliper.
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Andy, believe I covered that detail in paragraph 6 of post #1.
But always good to reiterate! Bleed both ports.
 
It is a very good idea to bleed the clutch fluid in the GT's. The reservoir has a very small capacity and the fluid tends to turn kind of snotty. We use a syringe and draw out all of the fluid and sometimes use a Q-tip or two to clean the bad ones. Then we fill the reservoir with fresh fluid. We like to use Motul, but to each his own.

To bleed, you need to be careful to keep an eye on the reservoir to make sure you don't run it dry and pull air in (easy to do). Bleeding the traditional way with a person in the car, have them be barefoot. The clutch pedal will stick to the floor and it's easiest to use your toes to bring it back up. We usually do two "bleeds" and on the third one we leave the pedal down until someone refills the reservoir. (The up stroke is what draws the fluid down.) If you do more than 3 bleeds without filling the reservoir, you are probably going to draw air in.
 
Specracer said:
Checked pads, swapped front to back. Pushed about 3/4 of a liter of SRF through the brake system, checked axle torque, fresh Hoosiers, bled replaced w nitrogen, torqued lug nuts, changed original battery. Bleed clutch tomorrow, check the oil, load it up w some light tools and other gear, almost ready for pick up.
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Did the same as Andy. Fresh oil Monday.
 
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