how did you learn to work on cars?
I started with my first vehicle, and either ahd to pay to have fixed or fix my self. I can pretty much R&R anything. Being older, and not having a lift, I choose to ave the heavy things done at a shop, I don't mind paying people if they do good work and treat me right. But if I don't have to crawl under around or through it, i don't mind busting knuckles every now and then.
Books are for teaching you how to do! I have found that working on cars is not a scary as it sounds in the manual. even though I never luck out to have the car in the pictures.