Recommended books?

Service manuals are only good for so much, like wiring diagrams, how to take stuff apart, etc. They were/are written for dealership technicians working on cars that were still under warranty or were within their projected service life.

The FSM does not generally delve into hows and whys unless it has a direct bearing on a specific repair procedure. Service manuals are really dry.

Also keep in mind they also do not cover anything other than original, factory equipment so unless your car is totally factory, they are somewhat limited in what you can learn from them. Factory engine with a dual point distributor? Go by the service manual. 45 year old hot rod engine? Throw the FSM specs out the window.

I read ALL the performance how-to books back in the 90s. I also had subscriptions to all the mags that were being published at the time, I gobbled all of it up. I lived in NYC, I'd read that stuff on the subway. It was like buying an education. I even started collecting old drag racing mags for the old tech articles. Tony Defeo was a great writer.

Andy F wrote a big block book that came out fairly reently. The Chuck Senatore book is also good but it's old now. Arvid Svendsen also has a more basic book which has pretty good pictures.

The Mopar Engine books are OK but take them with a grain of salt. They were written 30-35 years ago and have not been updated much since then. You need to wade through a lot of company propaganda to glean what you need. They contain so many obsolete part numbers etc. that it can be counterproductive to read them thinking you can just go out and get the parts they suggest. Plus, Sheppard was a really wooden writer with a slightly condescending tone.

I'd also start looking into some of the older performance how to books, like the engine blueprinting ones, David Vizards books etc. There's so many books out there for everything, just pick a few to start.

The internet is good for specific types of things but books can give you a better overall sense sometimes.

There's no replacement for experience though. No book is gonna help you learn better than by doing it.