Yes, we had stopping power! Actually we had a very informative and entertaining afternoon courtesy of Mike Daino of Powertech. It was that nasty, rainy Saturday October 24. You remember! You were really looking forward to a nice fall day so you could shine the Porsche and take it out for a ride. The weather may have stopped the ride, but it did not stop Mike from giving us a lesson on brakes. 

Mike started with the history of brakes, going way back to the early part of the 20th century when slowing down or stopping was achieved by dragging a stick.  He covered the development of drum brakes through disc, mechanical to hydraulic and how that developed in conjunction with wheel and tire sizes through the years. I thought for a moment or two that we were at the filing of something for the History Channel. There was a full array of examples from the early years, yes that’s a 20” set of drum brakes in the photo. Right up to a really huge big red disc brake caliper. Man, they just make those thing bigger every year.
We also learned about cross drilling and slotting. The jury may still be out on slotting but sadly I find that those little ¼” holes that I like in the rotors on my turbo are really just for show. What a bummer! I guess I do not need to worry about making sure there is no brake dust build up in there anymore. After our history lesson the crowd wanted to see the boys at Powertech work for a bit, so they asked for a brake bleed demonstration. Mike took us through the easy way. It is a two person job, so don’t try it alone. It will never work. All that is needed is a quart sized bottle with some clear surgical tubing. You can buy a ready-made bleeder bottle at Powertech if you need one. If you have a lift that is great. If not you will need to do one corner of the car at a time. Jack up the car and remove the wheel of course. Start at the wheel that is farthest from the master cylinder. Attach the hose to the bleeder screw on the caliper, have your helper pump the brakes, hold the pedal, you open the bleed screw, close after your help pushes the brake pedal to the floor, repeat until you do not see any air. Keep adding brake fluid to the reservoir so you don’t cause a big problem for yourself. Okay, well it may be a bit more involved and maybe you don’t want to do it yourself, but it was fun to watch!
Our thanks to Powertech for a great presentation. We can’t wait for the next one! Maybe Keith will break out his spatula for some BBQ next time. Feel free to call Mike Daino for an appointment to discuss your stopping needs.