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P.J. Pasierb’s Fox-body story starts like many we’ve heard before. It’s a story of a dream fulfilled, a low-mile Fox preserved, some heads, a cam and an intake, but this story had one crushing blow that led to an amazing transformation.
P.J. ‘s grandfather is a 30-year Ford Motor Company veteran, P.J. ‘s father’s first car was a 1960 Ford Falcon, and P.J. ‘s first car was his family’s hand-me-down 1984 Mercury Marquis, so naturally he’s always had an affinity for the Ford brand. However, it was his parents purchase of a 1990 Fox-body LX 2.3 that got P.J. hooked on Foxes. Although P.J. lusted for a Fox throughout his formative years, he eventually piloted the aforementioned, trusty, Griswold style, family station wagon through high school instead. The Grand Marquis provided plenty of space and comfort along the way and gave him and the family quite a few good years of service, but that service came to an abrupt end when he was rear ended a week before graduation.
With his trusty station wagon totaled, his eye on a diploma, and his heart set on the University of Central Florida, P.J. was entering his final summer before college completely carless. However, his hard work in school not only landed him a scholarship to UCF, but his father also rewarded him with a little help buying a new car. That car turned out to be the Vermillion Red 1993 LX 5.0 shown here.
Originally purchased in 1999 from a local Florida car dealer, it had around 10k miles on it and was the perfect candidate for a fresh daily driver. Over the next 10 years it accompanied P.J. to college and continued to serve him as he joined the United States Air Force. Due to the typical college kid budget and the lack of free time provided during his service, it stayed mostly stock. This meant that the miles stayed low and the car was kept pristine, averaging around two thousand miles a year.
In 2018 P.J. followed his buddies to the local eighth- mile dragstrip for a little fun. The cold conditions that day weren’t optimal for high performance runs, but he was there to enjoy the ride and see what kind of times he could put down. On the second pass, he rowed through the gears and lost traction, which caused resulted in hitting the wall on the big end; 19 years of preservation and maintenance all disappeared in the blink of an eye. P.J. was crushed, much like his Fox, but he wasn’t going to let those years of love and labor go down the drain that quickly.
Over the next six months P.J. left no stone unturned as he explored every avenue in hopes to find a place that could return his Fox to its former glory. It wasn’t until he found Manir, Matt, Norman, and the folks at Our Dream Auto Restorations in Mooresville, North Carolina that he knew it would be in good hands. After some long thought and a few consultations with Manir, they figured transforming the accident into a dream build was the route to go. Something slick, something nasty, and something completely unsuspecting until the key was turned. That something turned out to be a full exterior restoration, frame repair, and a fresh Ford Performance BOSS 363ci crate engine.
Starting by replacing the damaged metal and smoothing the fender aprons, they returned the engine bay to a form worthy of its 37k odometer reading. As that was finished it became home to the new BOSS 363ci; a big leap from the lightly modified 302ci. Once it was nestled between the shock towers, they added a Trick Flow Specialties R intake, a Pro-M Mass Air Port EFI system and an 80mm MAF, 80mm BBK throttle-body, and Ford Performance 47 lb/hr injectors. This potent combo sends spent gasses through a set of MAC ceramic coated long tube headers, a custom 3-inch stainless steel x-pipe, and a set of Flowmaster 50 Series Delta Flow mufflers.
With 507 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, the drivetrain and suspension needed to be beefed up to handle the load. First up was a G-Force T-5 transmission, supported by a Stifflers tubular crossmember and finished off with a McLeod RST Twin Disc clutch and a Quick Time SFI bellhousing. The T-5 was mated up to a Ford Performance aluminum driveshaft with an added Stifflers safety loop that all serves to put the power down through an 8.8 rearend with a Ford Performance Torsen differential, 3.55 gears, and Moser 31-spline axles. Maximum Motorsports stayed the suspension of choice from the initial build and added their K-member, tubular control arms, coilovers, front sway bar, bushings, rear torque arm, and panhard bar.
To stop this impressive combination of power and parts they upgraded to set of 13-inch StopTech rotors and four piston calipers up front with 11.65-inch StopTech rotors and single piston calipers out back. To finish it all up they went back with the Mavromont Pony R 17-inch wheels wrapped in Firestone Firehawk tires.
On the outside, the car is relatively unsuspecting with the HO Fibertrends, stock style, hood. Aside from the fresh repaint, the reflective molding accent strip that came standard on the car completes the exterior mods. The inside is no different with the only real change being the addition of a leather wrapped 1987-1990 style steering wheel and the adjustable tilt column to go with it. On the surface, the final product looks just like it did the moment before its encounter with the wall, but that familiarity only goes skin deep. Over a ten month period, the car went from mild to wild, but at first glance none would be the wiser.
From a life of mild mods and cruising miles to a future of high-performance hijinks this dream car’s journey is far from over and P.J. couldn’t have been happier with the lemonade Our Dream Auto made from his track wall encounter full of lemons. He plans on enjoying it in its new state for a while, but like any fox owner, he knows it’s only a matter of time before the modification itch will return and as always, we’ve got to scratch it!
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