Fastbrake Newsletter - Mark McLaughlin Spotlight Chapter #1
PMB Performance Coachwerks Spotlight - Mark Mclaughlin
This month in our FastBrake Newsletter, we’ll start highlighting our Coachwerks division. Giving everyone a view into how we restore vintage Porsches. Beginning with our great friend Mark McLaughlin and his amazing 914-6 restoration.
Getting to know Mark
Mark’s a certified Porsche fanatic, with more than a few outstanding vehicles and projects under his belt. Over the years he’s had many incredible Porsches, including (but not limited to) a 914 LE, a one of one Midnight Blue Metallic 997 GT3, a full group 5 body 914-6, and the beautiful silver factory 914-6 featured in this article!
Mark’s "Porsche enthusiasm" runs in the family, with his son Ryan sharing the Porsche love. Mark and his son worked together to build what they call the Porsche 914 “Leichtbau,” (lightweight) which is an outstanding custom 4 cylinder car deserving of its own full-size article in the future. The Leichtbau is powered by a staggering 2.6L Type IV, with twin carbs and a unique 917 inspired top mount fan. When building the lightweight, near full-fiberglass body, Mark opted to use smooth late 70s/early 80’s style “Baker” flares, rather than the standard square 914-6/GT box flares. These give the car a unique IMSA GTU-esque stance, something rarely seen anywhere outside of a race track. A set of custom, multi-piece Jongbloed Series 214 wheels wrapped with Toyo R888Rs fill these arches and complete the race-bred street car look. A set of PMB Performance restored calipers sit underneath these wheels and give this beast the stopping power it needs. His son is now working with a craigslist find ‘71 911 rally car that was previously owned by Scott Harvey Sr. of Plymouth rally fame.
Mark's Son's growing Porsche fleet
A 914-6 with a story
When Mark’s 914-6 arrived at PMB, it was obvious it was a car with history. Most cars that roll off trailers here don’t come with Hoosier slicks and photos of them sitting behind a bunch of trophies. He purchased the car in 1978 with the purpose of it being a driver's car. It was modified with some mild carb tuning and suspension modifications to be a major threat in the autocross world. Mark won many awards in the Golden Gate Autocross region in the 70’s and 80s, thanks to the excellent combination of the factory 6’s immaculate handling and his driving skills.
Mark remembers a specific event he ran where he was able to out-drive the infamous Automotion 914-6 with a Jerry Woods built race motor. Jerry was famous for building 935 motors at the time, so this was quite the victory for the humble 2 liter in his car. He put about 74,000 miles of hard driving on the chassis during the time he was autocrossing it.
Eventually Mark picked up a ‘74 Bumblebee 914 LE that he began restoring. Once the LE was in his garage, he shelved the 914-6. As tends to happen, life got in the way and the 6 sat. This is when PMB Performance and our Coachwerks' restoration team enters the story. After years of sitting, it was in need of some serious restoration work. The bar was set pretty high considering the car was literally on the cover of Brett Johnson's 1989 First Edition of The 914 & 914/6 Porsche, a Restorer's Guide to Authenticity!!
Mark shopped around a bit for places to restore it, but wasn’t able to find anyone he was really interested in. He knew of PMB through buying the brakes for the Leitchbau, so he decided to reach out and see if we’d take on this restoration. After speaking with him and hearing the journey, we were more than happy to accept, and the gears started turning.
PMB Coachwerks
Once Mark’s 6 arrived at our shop, it was time to get to work. His desires were simple, he wanted a modern evolution of the factory 6. The car is intending to retain its 1970's identity, but without the drawbacks of the true age of the vehicle.
The first on the agenda was a total restoration of the body. Anything with even a hint of rust was completely removed and replaced, including an entire rear apron replacement. Once the body was finished, it was time for paint. Over the course of two months, the car was refinished in its' original Silver Metallic, resulting in one of the most stunning paint jobs we’ve ever seen on a tub. To quote Eric, “Worth the wait, this is Jewelry.”
Better than new!
To match the quality of the paint, everything on the exterior is brand new; no faded rubber, aging plastic or dull anodized trim anywhere to be found. Just recently, the bumpers came back from re-chroming with a genuine mirror finish, which look incredible against the bright silver paint.
Suspension for this car is out of this world. Mark opted to go for a Tractive active damper system, truly a piece of modern magic. Tractive’s system uses a complex G-Sensor that measures acceleration forces, cornering, body roll, and body pitch. Data from this sensor is sent to Tractive’s DDA (Dynamic Damping Adjustment) valves, which adjust the shock damping in real time to keep the car stable under even extreme circumstances. This system also allows suspension tuning to be handled electronically.
Naturally, a car like this needs a motor to match, and we have quite the powertrain lined up for this car. The original 2 Liter is no longer in the car, but is still part of the project, (more on that as we continue this series.) Instead, the car will be powered by a fully modernized freshly rebuilt EFI 2.7, featuring modernized throttle bodies as well as an MS3 Pro computer. All of this is running through a totally custom made engine harness, with the rest of the wiring being from our friends at Restoration Design. The engine is dressed with a complete amber 906 style fiberglass shroud kit, and uses 908 air cleaners.
Transitioning from air cleaners to induction, Jenvey’s Heritage Series throttle bodies were the perfect pick for this project. Not only are Jenvey’s in-house production throttle bodies some of the finest available on the market, the benefits of modern fuel injection cannot be overstated. From a driver’s perspective, the better power, improved throttle response, and easy tunability are excellent. From an owner’s perspective: features like perfect altitude adjustment, improved simplicity, and vastly improved reliability really make the difference. Often these benefits are lost when trying to make a period correct engine bay, but this is where the Heritage Series really shine! They’re cast to exactly resemble a set of classic Triple throat IDA3C Carburetors, and feature hidden injectors, meaning all but the sharpest eyes won’t see anything out of place. They look right at home in a bay like Mark's, full of race parts developed in the 1960’s and 70’s.
PMB Performance is currently wrapping up dressing out the EFI and top of the motor, and just beginning our restoration and assembly of the interior. Coachwerks has a multitude of other trick goodies planned for this project, with a few very rare and special parts in the pipeline. Stay tuned to FastBrake for the next chapter in the story of Mark’s car.
