Different world today. Is Shop still offered in public schools?
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I was always interested...not just in cars, but in engines.
I was about 10 yrs. old ('55)...neighbor across the street was building a lakester with a flathead engine in his garage.
My neighborhood friends were afraid of him because he was always gruff...but for some reason he tolerated me dropping by at night and just walking in.
I was there when he relieved the eng. block, polished and ported, etc.
When he set the non-progressive linkage for the 3 Strombergs...I even handed him tools...
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Fast Forward to about 13 years old.
I used to cut through back yards and alleys on my way to and from school. One day I saw some greasy overhead valved engine in an alley next to garbage cans.
I borrowed a neighbor's red wagon one night, looped wire around the engine front and rear, ran a steel pole through both loops, one end of pole rested on the wagon and I held the other end.
Managed to roll it several blocks and into our dirt floor garage surreptitiously, and over the next few months I dismantled it (screwdrivers, crescent wrenches, and a claw hammer - my mother had no other tools) down to the crank bearings.
I was driven to know that world.