I grew up with family into rallying, drag racing, circuit racing ... all in cars and on bikes. So it was a no brainer that I was going to inherit those genes. Rebuilt my first 2 stroke motor at 14, and was servicing the family cars at 16. My first car was my uncle's TC Cortina street/drag car. Did lackey work in workshops from 16-18 then went on to spray painting. Applied to be a RAAF aircraft technician, but an injury at the time stopped me, so settled for working on cars. Had a real head and heart for it back then ... now I just got the head for it. Got fed up with working on cars for a job, so now I just tinker with cars for a hobby as its more enjoyable.
I've done some stupid projects over the years, including a 13B 1600, supercharged SR20DE in a 200B, CA18DET in a 1600, and many other dumb projects that should never have been built (turboed CBR1000 drag bike being one) I do all my own work on my cars and bikes, and have done so for more than 20 years. I've even helped out a few SAU members with their cars and shown them a few things to learn along the way too.
I'm all for people learning to DIY.