There was no other choice. Got my drivers license in 1961. Two of my 4 buddy circle were mechanical, the other two were not. None of us could afford to pay to have our cars repaired. So you just learned from manuals and trial and error.

Car's were simpler back then. You have plugs, points, timing, carburetors, no emission stuff, and no power windows etc. No computers. We always figured it out. This included a couple of engine rebuild projects.

I could take the overdrive transmission out of my '56 Ford, re-place the blown synchros, and put it back in one evening. Nobody taught me how to do it. I just crawled under there and figured it out. If you do something often enough it you get good at it.

I took many years off the working on cars thing. Company cars, and no time to mess with the other ones.

Now it's only the MB's that generate any interest on my part. It gets me away from the mental stresses of running my own business. I pay to have the little Tacoma truck, and the 2001 Chrysler mini-van serviced and repaired because I have absolutely no interest in them.

I believe that learning to repair cars is like everything else in life. If have the ability to stick to a target, then you will succeed. You don't necessarily need to become an ace mechanic or tackle every task to enjoy the satisfaction and security of knowing that it was actually done and done correctly.

Finally, the internet with things like forums, pictorials, etc. make things a lot easier to figure out.

Steve