I want to congratulate, for the most part, everyones "Helpful" advise.
A young bloke has the guts to get on here and politely ask for help and assistance, and is grateful to recieve any information even if it is against what he had hoped to do.
And for the better part, good advise was given, from members with many, many years of experience.
TMV006 it might seem like a pain that the laws have changed restricting what engines and power you L and P platers are able to drive now,
But im glad you are mature enough to understand why!
When i was on my Ps a V8 was the gear!
But there was no-way me and my mates could afford one.
So we all got stock 4 bangers to learn in.
But the advantage of that is, its a great way to learn about cars.
The old saying you have to crawl before you can walk.
We slowly built our cars up, slowly worked on the power side of things with Exhausts, carb upgrades, cams etc.
It was another 6 years before i got a Turbo motor!
But Brakes and suspension should always be your main priority first up for safety atleast. (as was said before)
Get a copy of a Gregories Service manual for your car and learn about all of your basic servicing.
Then you could look at more advanced books such as what Cheaterparts suggested.
And do some research and learn what you can. Help other people work on their cars is a good way to learn also.
You dont have to be a motor mechanic to work on cars either, most of our members arent, and if you read most car magazines the guys who own the cars in there rarely are either.
Keep plugging away TMV
Get that car of yours regoed
Hmm a turbo in under 3 hours..
Anything is possible...
this could be it??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr6CiRQbV6M