How to take it to the next level (learning about cars)?

Tinkering will teach you. Want to see how a car acts with retarded timing? Grab the distributor and give it a turn.
With some decent hand tools, a GOOD manual and the willingness to learn a shadetree mechanic can fix nearly anything on most of the cars discussed here.
INVEST in a factory shop manual, you can find them cheap for most of our cars. The aftermarket books are too general and some(Chilton)are utter crap. Tools needn't be expensive. Avoid the "sets" with a zillion useless pieces like fifty hex driver bits, eight point sockets and lots of allen keys.
What you pay a pro for two hour job can buy you enough of the above to get started.
If you're not willing to get dirty, bash your knuckles and occasionally be frustrated don't bother with wrenching on cars.
It can be a very satisfying hobby, especially when you bring back to life a machine given up for dead.

 

In my youth a local girl had a '71 Demon. "Just" a 340 modified a bit by herself. She could powershift with the big boys and regularly outran many of us. NOT ME though .

 

I used to be an ASE certified master tech, I stopped professionally fixing cars about 6 years ago. Got kinda burned out in it. But got back into the "hobby" about a year and a half ago. I learned by watching and helping people who knew more than me. In my experience while you can learn just about all aspects of a car, you get better at some areas than others. For example my strongest area is suspension work, some guys don't like to do it, but they can. I do not like to put timing belts on interference engines, I worry about the job for a week after its done, but I can do it. I guess what i'm trying to say is don't get frustrated, keep at it and realize that you will be better at some jobs than others.

 

the greatest lesson i ever learnt was from my PA....he said..."it goes back together the exact way it came apart...only in reverse"....

to this day...almost 40 years later....when changing brake shoes....
.....i still lay out the brake parts in a series of how they came apart...

 

You too? The school of hard knocks should give gold medals. At least we get results that really work.

 

That is kinda creepy but in a good way,,,,,Dito!

:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Maybe I could use the camera during brake disassembly, but then I'd spend longer cleaning off the camera.

I've used it on dash disassembly, but that's a whole day's work.