Never give up, never surrender. That's the motto. It has to be, because this build seems determined to test it.

Here's what happened while I was quiet. I was juggling IT work like a man with too many flaming objects and not enough hands. My wife had begun making the kind of comments that suggest family time is no longer optional. I was launching a 3D platform that refused to launch smoothly. And then, because this is Florida and Florida has opinions about everything, a hurricane rolled through and left broken trees across half the neighbourhood.

Mustang went on hold for a few weeks. Not by choice. By weather.

But today, things changed.

I reinstalled the gas tank, wrestled Coupe into my so-called garage, and got back to what I do best: ripping things apart. I should explain the garage. It's a 26-by-13-foot party tent. Walls, lights, and a whole lot of optimism holding it together. The kind of structure you'd normally see at a cousin's wedding, not housing a Mustang conversion. But it works. I can remove panels when I'm cutting so nothing catches fire, there's enough room to move around the car without breathing in my own elbows, and the lights mean I can keep working after dark. Which, given that daylight hours are now spoken for by my actual job, is rather important.

Is it a proper garage? No. Is it standing? For now. Will it survive the next storm? That is a question I have chosen not to think about.