April 1986:  Spring Break week, Jeff’s junior year of high school.  Jeff and his dad board a plane from Hartford, Connecticut bound for Seattle, Washington.  The mission:  Complete the purchase of Jeff’s uncle’s 1958 356A coupe and drive the car cross country, back home.  Although Jeff and his father were complete amateurs in Porsche 356 ownership, they easily made the trip with plenty of stories and a new appreciation of vintage cars. Soon after arriving back home they discover a local group of 356 enthusiasts about to form a club, the Southern Connecticut 356 Register.  Jeff and his parents joined the club and attended both social and technical events. Over the years of being active in the club Jeff’s interest in the cars and people grew.

Owning and driving a 356 often leads to learning basic repairs, which Jeff began to do on his own car.  After reading a loaned copy of Harry Pellow’s “Secrets of the Inner Circle”, which details the rebuild of 356 pushrod engines, Jeff decided to rebuild the engine in his second car, a 1964 356C coupe.  This car would eventually become Jeff’s daily driver logging 100,000 miles of driving and ownership experience.  During this time, Jeff’s career in Porsche repair was born.

Jeff’s second career stop on the independent shop circuit was KAM Motorsports, owned by local legend of vintage Porsche repair Gerry McCarthy.  Gerry was one of the few people known nationwide as a four cam engine specialist, having worked on 356 cars when they were factory new.  After several years proving his skill to Gerry on 356 pushrod and 911 engine builds, Gerry agreed to train Jeff in four cam engine restoration.