Any place to learn how to work on old cars?

Depending on your car, there are some factory shop manuals that you can find on the 'net. Haynes manuals can be junk. They cover a large range of vehicles, but only show you pictures and procedures on the most common version. For instance, if you have an 86 Monte Carlo, the Haynes manual also covers Malibu, El Camino, Grand National, Regal, Grand Prix, Cutlass, and others from 1978-1988. Those vehicles are remarkably similar, but there are some major engine/transmission differences that require you to know the difference.

I find it comical that Haynes manuals start with a chapter on "how to use a screwdriver," then skip straight to "engine overhaul" which attempts to cover all of the possible V6 and V8 engines from Pontiac, Buick, Olds, and Chevy that could be in those cars. They show you how to set timing on a Chevy 305 and then say "Pontiac similar." They fail to mention that the Pontiac's distributor turns counter-clockwise. (Curtis thinks back to 1994 when he shredded his hoodliner from a backfire after following the instructions in a Haynes manual.)

Chiltons are a bit better, but try to find the original factory service manual. books4cars.com is a good place to start. Amazon and ebay are good sources as well.

Here's a thought: (besides all of the above^^^) 1. Find out if your local vo-tech (or Career Training Center seems to be the modern name) has a basic adult ed auto shop program. 2. See if they allow you to bring your own project car. Bonus: If you can store it on site, you've solved your other problem, too!

I dug out some old books if you're interested in reading before/while wrenching!

Sorry about the sideways...please ignore the blue one rudely intruding into the picture.

I want to learn how to work on cars properly too. The other day I was browsing the web to see if there were any clubs or meetup groups where people helped each other wrench but I didn't find any.