That's what I did, trial and error along the way. More success than failure.
I still have the original Motor's manual my dad bought me in 1975 when I was 13. We could drive during daylight at age 14 back then.
I bought ever performance magazine starting from like age nine/ten into my 30's My favorites anything to do with motors and the driveline I keep notes on them all. My other Uncle was a street racer with his built 340 duster, he built a lot of engines around town I was at his house every other day we would have very deep discussion about engines. I had a decent understanding about performance drivetrains by time I was 13, Plus worked for my dads Garage use to fix wiring for him a lot of the time, I tried putting a V6 in a chevette like at 12.
360 in a Lazer with a 300z rear in high school. First performance mod put a 340 top end on the family 76 318 D150 when 16. Etc..