Well, I'm passed the point of no return. As you can see from the photo, my '66 GT hardtop restoration is underway.

Merv Rego and his crew at Classic Creeations of Central Florida wasted no time in stripping down the Mustang, including the interior and the old Signalflare Red paint. As hoped, the sheetmetal shows little rust, including under the vinyl roof, which was showing some evidence of surface rust underneath.

Merv did notice repairs from previous body damage, which I know all about. I vividly remember when my then-teenage daughter got rear-ended while driving my mom around on a shopping trip.

I also delivered the original steel wheels to Merv for restoration. They've been stored in my garage ever since I replaced them with American Racing Torq-Thrusts over 10 years ago.

The adventure continues this week when Merv and crew remove the drivetrain.