With all due respect, I think y'all are way over instructing a first-time track participant.

Tom,
The first and most important thing to learn is the line. If you can’t drive the line consistently, everything else is moot. Spend your first two sessions on the line. After that, you can start adding in other aspects (like more aggressive braking techniques) as you progress.

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. At the moment, I'm just hoping to make it down there. I'm in the middle of replacing my rotors and pads and have found some torn caliper seals - so my project has grown (of course). I need to rebuild my rear calipers - had the seal kits fed-exed which should arrive tomorrow. It's either going to be a very late night tomorrow, or I won't make it - which bums me out because I was really looking forward to the trip. There's another PCA weekend at the end of Sept. that will be my next opportunity, but I really wanted to have this day as a first go. We'll see if I can get everything back together in time.

If I do make it, I'm just planning on taking it slow - very slow. I'm in no rush to turn pro anytime soon! I just want to learn as much as I can. I'm going to have my car for a loooong time, so I'm in no hurry. I'm just excited to have the opportunity to drive around w/an instructor on a closed course.

Wish me luck thru the next day or so as I try to get my brakes functioning!

Thanks,
Tom

If it is just the rubber dust seals don't worry about them. They tend to turn to powder once you heat up your brakes on the track anyway. Definitely not something to worry about for the DE.

Edit - to clarify, there is a rubber dust boot on the outside of the caliper that is designed to keep dust out of the area between the piston and caliper. This is not a critical piece.

There are also rubber o-rings in the caliper that seal the piston and keep fluid from escaping from the closed system. If you are leaking fluid from the caliper at the piston opening, this is a problem. Another symptom of bad o-rings would be if the piston is sticking. This would manifest itself as a dragging pad, which would cause your rotor to wear faster on one side of the car.

Hi Jeff -
That's good to know about the outside rubber dust seals - that's what was torn. None of my calipers were leaking fluid, but there was uneven disk wear. While the pistons didn't appear totally stuck, there was some rust on them - not much and mostly on the exterior surfaces. I've already torn down the rears and am just waiting for fed-ex w/the new seal kits. My rears were much worse off than the fronts, which appear to be OK. Hopefully I can get them rebuilt and the system bled and functioning w/out too much trouble.

Tom