- Safety TIP:Change
your Brake Fluid
If you are planning on participating in Drivers Ed Days at Lewistown
this year (2005), then you really ought to consider looking at
your brake fluid before you head-off to Lewistown. You should
change out your brake fluid every two years under normal conditions.
There are several reasons for this.
- One: To get rid of any water in your brake system
that has accumulated from the air (brake fluid is hydroscopic:
it absorbs moisture out of the air) and that lowers the boiling
point of your brake fluid.
- Two: If you do any kind of hard driving and braking,
you need to get at least DOT 4 fluid in your brake system. The
factory supplies our cars with DOT 3 fluid which has a lower
boiling point than DOT 4 fluid. (Forget about silicone fluids
for every day drivers. It just costs too much and is a real pain
in the butt to purge and change out.) Dot 4 Fluids can be interchanged
(added to) DOT 3 Fluids, but it is best to just flush out all
of the old and replace it with a better grade brake fluid.
- It just makes sense to change your brake fluid to a better
grade brake fluid. I personally am using ATE Super Blue Brake
Fludi which costs about $11 per liter. It has a boiling point
of 536 degrees vs. heavy duty DOT 3 of about 450 degrees.
- Last year (Sept. 2004) one of good friends from another region
brought a recently purchased used Porsche to the DE day. The
brake fluid actually boiled at the wheel cylinders which forced
brake fluid to overflow at the master cyclinder. He litterally
had brake fluid spilling out of the resevoir and on to the paint
in his engine compartment. Brake fluid is well known for its
ability to take off paint, or at the very least to dis-color
it. It is not a pretty scene!
- Now would be a good time to replace the old fluid, before
you get to Lewistown and have spongy brakes and a real mess to
contend with.
- Heck, just replace it because it is the right thing to do!
Screechingly,
David Veile
Repaving and widening
of Lewistown for 2005 Season
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Photos courtesy Bob Petitt:
It has been widened from 20' to 24' and will have white line
marking outside edges.
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- First S Turn 1 & 2
-
Entrance 2nd turn into 3 and 4
- Hairpin turn 5
- Duck Pond - Turns 6 to 12 - hard right - short straight
to 13, hard right to Start/Finish/Pits
- Front Straight at Pit Area widened 700 feet
- Now wasn't that fun!
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