Tired of paying for service...........

[Dave Rifkin]

Guys,

I am getting tired of having to rely on mechanics all of the time to work on my car and I want to take matters in my own hands, so to speak. I am fairly mechanically inclined and, since many of you are very skilled at working on these cars, I was wondering if you could offer some suggestions on how I should go about learing how to properly work on a classic car?
I own a 1969 L46 Corvette and, to date, I have redone the interior, replaced the heater core and done some other very minor cosmetic stuff. I feel the car should be much quicker than it is and, rather than pay someone to troubleshoot my car, I'd like to learn how to tune the car up myself. Eventually I want to install new trailing arm assemblies as well as rebuild the front suspension but, that can wait for now.
Do you guys have any books that you could recommend or are there other methods you'd suggest for learning these skills?
I don't want to "Bubba" the car up but, I also hate being at the mercy of a mechanic who does not care as much about the car as I do.

Thanks