hey man, let me be one of the first to welcome you to the world of hotrodding. i learned about cars mainly from my father, and then by doing it myself. my dad was always into the car scene back in the 70's. he had a '67 camaro with a 327 and a 4 speed that would catch rubber in all 4 gears and bounce the rear while getting sideways in the first two. he taught me the basics- cleaning, organization, general maitenance when i was really young. then, when i got my license, he showed me how to diagnose and tune a motor by using tools, and then eventually by ear. (in the late 70's he and a friend of his were gonna open a street machine tuning and engine shop, but he turned it down at the last minute ..... i was really bummed when he told me this.) when i got the chevelle, i taught myself through reading, and then doing, how to do preliminary bodywork, welding, rebuilding an engine, and rebuild the entire car. a lot of it came pretty easily to me, but it still took a lot of time and patience. also, get to know people that are around cars. a family friend of mine owns their own auto garage, and has a racing team (check out
www.siracing.com that's their site). you can learn a lot by just going to cruises around your area in the summer and talking to people there.
anyways, when you do get your car, myself (and the rest of us guys here) will definetely offer you our advice and tips. also, there are a lot of mods that you can do (depending on the type of car) that cost little of no $$ that can pick up a few ponies. all you gotta know how to do is turn a wrench!
best of luck, buddy.... peace.