[BuiltwithIvy]

some of the questions you ask have simple answers, others have very complex answers, at the end of the day, each thing is very custom depending on your varying needs and wants, if you want to do some of the stuff, find cheap things to practice on from CL or any similar site. I could walk you through projects, but I need to see what it is you're working on, and what you want at the end of the day, I personally went to Wyotech, and while they taught some basic concepts, I learned almost everything from working at a streetrod shop and just doing it. I recently chopped a top for the first time (see my thread for pics), and most of the issues were me sitting down and thinking about things in a logical manner (if I cut here, what will happen? is cutting here better than there? why am I making these choices? so on and so forth) but you have a lot of people here who are willing to talk you through any project, and a ton of articles and pictures of people who have done similar things, if there are local hot rod shops, ask if you can sweep their floor for free, and ask the guys who build why they did things the way they did