The MGBE site in general has a bit of the "do it yourself or you don't deserve it" attitude. While I do most of my own work, that doesn't mean I think that everyone should. Heck, if I were a rich guy then I would probably hire a personal mechanic and have him do a lot of my work for me. I do enjoy doing
some work but only when I
want to, not always when I
have to. The main reason I do most of my own work is that I simply can't afford to pay someone to work on seven classic cars.
There is certainly something to be said for the feeling of accomplishment as well as self confidence after completing a repair on your own. If you're uncomfortable with doing it, then just take it slow and do little things yourself while hiring a mechanic to do the more involved work. Hopefully you won't need anything major anyway.
I'm sure I will get others agreeing when I recommend Malcolm (a member of this site) as a trustworthy mechanic, and that it would be worth the drive to Temple City to have him check the car over and do some general maintenance. Yeah, it's kind of far but if you can schedule it outside of traffic then it isn't too bad of a drive. In my opinion, a mechanic you can trust is worth his weight in gold. How much does Malcolm weigh, anyway?
I'll add one more thing, I think it's important to know the basics of an old car if you will be driving it daily. In the event of a breakdown, a small amount of basic knowledge about your car's systems as well as a few hand tools and small parts will be the primary difference between being towed off the side of the road, and driving the car away under its own power. In 20 years of driving old cars, mine have rarely stopped running while driving down the road. When they have, it has almost always been less than ten minutes to figure out what happened and remedy it.
My recommendation would be to buy a repair manual or two, and keep one in the trunk along with a few tools, ignition parts, etc. Definitely do your own oil change, simply because it's really easy and will give you confidence to move forward. Warm the engine, drain the old oil, change the filter, fill the oil back up. It's a very simple car, and routine maintenance will be pretty easy to learn over time. Oh yes, also pick up a Moss Motors catalog as soon as possible. You will be spending a few paychecks there during your ownership.
One last note, if you want to swing by in the car one of these days, I can give you a little primer and show you how things work. Bring some oil and a filter and you can even change the oil here.
