Learning curve,new combination's......

My "first car" was a Pontiac station wagon. My Dad showed me how to jamb a scredriver into the choke to make it run when it flooded - which it did fairly regularly due to a bad primary choke pull off.
My 2nd car was a '71 Barracuda with a 318 2bbl. I added a 4bbl (stock intake, adaptor, and 750 Holley), and a Sonic Turbo muffler (to the single factory exh with manifolds). The intake leaked so bad I made a shield to keep the oil off the Y pipe - it was smoking a lot... No need for a kickdown - the aftermarket floor shifter made it shift when I wanted it to.
My 3rd car was a '74 Barracuda 318 3sp stick. I swapped the 3sp to a 4sp when it stuck in 2nd gear (missed a shift). I swapped the 318 for a 340 when the opportunity presented itself. I added N2O to it after a year or two. By the end that car would go high 12s.
The length of time between those three cars was 2 years. there was no internet & my Dad is a retired nuclear engineer who hated working on cars. So I learned it all by doing - and screwing up. And getting laughed at, and breaking things, and losing....lol.