Do I need the protective plate on the front brakes? Options

[stugray]

I dont know if I lost them in the year the car has been on stands or if the PO took them off.
This car was a dedicated racecar, so do people take them off for racing?

I see the part # is 411 407 163 B( or 165 C) in the PET catalog.
However I cannot find them at Pelican or AA.

I swore I saw a new set that had the holes for cooling lines, but cant remember where I saw those.
My front air-dam has the brake cooling holes, so I might want to go with them.

Can I run without them? Does that provide better cooling than having them on?

Stu

[ConeDodger]

I dont know if I lost them in the year the car has been on stands or if the PO took them off.
This car was a dedicated racecar, so do people take them off for racing?

I see the part # is 411 407 163 B( or 165 C) in the PET catalog.
However I cannot find them at Pelican or AA.

I swore I saw a new set that had the holes for cooling lines, but cant remember where I saw those.
My front air-dam has the brake cooling holes, so I might want to go with them.

Can I run without them? Does that provide better cooling than having them on?

Stu

Stu, if you are talking about the back plate that shields the inner side of the rotor from dust and rocks and such, it is frequently removed. Mine doesn't have them.

I guess your answer depends on what you intend to do with the car. If it is street driven, you will encounter dirty roads with rocks and such. It isn't that dedicated race cars don't, it's just that the brakes are inspected so much more often than a street car. Porsche engineers don't include things in the design that aren't really necessary. The Porsche accountants wouldn't let them. Not a bad idea to contact Bruce Stone and gets some replacements if you intend to street drive the car.

[stewteral]

I dont know if I lost them in the year the car has been on stands or if the PO took them off.
This car was a dedicated racecar, so do people take them off for racing?

I see the part # is 411 407 163 B( or 165 C) in the PET catalog.
However I cannot find them at Pelican or AA.

I swore I saw a new set that had the holes for cooling lines, but cant remember where I saw those.
My front air-dam has the brake cooling holes, so I might want to go with them.

Can I run without them? Does that provide better cooling than having them on?

Stu

Hi Stu,

I agree with Rob: the protective sheet metal is for street cars to keep nasty stuff out of the brakes like mud, rocks and snow.

Since yours is a dedicated track car, not only don't you need them, you don't WANT them there as they limit air flow. I would suggest replacing the shields with
ducts to direct air on your brakes.

I have 12" x 1.25" Wilwood brakes on my V8 conversion with cooling via 6" cooling channels through the front of the car to the front side of the fenderwells.
The cooling air comes straight through from the nose to the brakes. At the caliper mounts I have scoops to direct the airflow. The results were surprisingly good. After a hard lapping session on the Streets of Willow Springs, with a 2600 lb car reaching 120 MPH, the front brakes only got up to 420 degrees.

Best of luck with you car,
Terry

[stugray]

Thanks for the input.
It seems that the PO DID remove them as I cannot find them, so I will run without.

Next question:

How about the rears? I have the shields for them and I took them off when rebuilding.
For a racer, should I leave them off as well?

Maybe greater chance for contamination from the engine/tranny/CVs, compared to the fronts?

Stu

[SirAndy]

How about the rears? I have the shields for them and I took them off when rebuilding.
For a racer, should I leave them off as well?

Yes, leave them off. You could use something like the plastic "scoop" used on the later model Porsches to funnel some air to the rear brakes.

I've been wanting to try that.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

996:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.vividracing.com-179-1327373550.1.jpg)

[dlestep]

If your are running vented brake rotors, you may want to something to consider the following:

I'm running vented rotors, and the interior of the rotor has angled vains starting nearest
the center hub. The 911 backing plates have radial slots feeding those lower vains,
sucking cooling air from underneath the car, out and through the rotor from the center.
I had to modify the backing plates for more clearance around the aluminum Brembos I purchased from Eric.
A deflector, or air guide, like Andy mentioned, would help direct more airflow.





Or you can puchase these from Pelican



hope this helps your thinking (Pro or con).
A lot of people run without them, some people run with them.
You can buy them, or modify yours, fabricating what you want.

[stugray]

Or you can puchase these from Pelican

Thanks!! That's what I have been searching for, I knew I saw them somewhere.

Stu