there was no auto shop in my high school. we had wood shop and basic electrical shop, and both classes were taught by teachers that were looking more toward retirement than teaching.
i got a job at a body shop in 1968, and that lasted until 1972 when the owner closed the shop and moved out of the state to take a job with an insurance company chasing fraudulent claims.
it was during this time period i bought my charger as a total, and learned how to tackle a large project. the guys that worked at that shop were a great bunch, and i am proud to say i am great friends with the shop foreman and his wife to this day.
back then, as i had little body work experience other than bolting on fenders and other removable parts, at first i was assigned the task of floor sweeper/general cleanup guy and "gofer".
i gradually got to help sand vehicles for paint jobs and did a lot of masking. i was also assigned the job of tow truck driver. i enjoyed that a lot !
somewhere around 1969 or early 1970, the owner bought a small Texaco gas station a few blocks away, and moved the frame machine from the main shop to the gas station. i was then assigned the job of managing the gas station from 3pm until 10 or 11pm closing time, depending upon how busy we were on any particular day.
the frame machine was run by an old German guy, and this was where i started to learn the basic skills i have today. as the shop specialty was buying and repairing totals, almost all required some pulling plus some "heat and beat" technology.
i really enjoyed the techniques used on the frame machine to get things back into position, so a mangled mess looked like a car [or truck] again. i was very disappointed [and somewhat sad] when the shop closed.
after that, i dumbed around with short stints working at the local truck stop and a house trailer manufacturer, finally landing a job with Rockwell International in the next town over.
thus beginning my machinist career the day after Christmas, in 1973. from this day forward, i learned to design parts as well as make them from various kinds of materials. this helped greatly in fabricating hot rod parts, and after shift, i could use the shops equipment to do so. after almost 45 years [almost all of it the graveyard shift - thus becoming a vampire ], i graduated into retirement.