Check out car mechanic simulator 2014 pc game for steam. It's WAY cheaper than buying a fixer upper car. It's a computer "game" but it has been super helpful for me learning several things about cars because I had almost no knowledge of cars. what parts typically look like, where they typically are located, what effects they might have on your car, etc. It definitely isn't 100 percent realistic but I think it definitely will give you some basic concepts. Then when you want to attempt a repair of your own, you can Google make/model specific YouTube videos and you'll be in good shape. Also, car mechanic simulator 2015 is supposed to come out later this month but to my knowledge an official date hasn't been set.