I grew up in the South Bay, e.g., Torrance, Redondo Beach area. I mentioned on my thread that I swapped a Chevy V8 into my Porsche 914 when I was in college, and at one point in the '80s I worked at Service Center on Torrance Blvd. (a hot rod shop). I learned a lot doing my first swap! But when I moved to Europe I basically switched my allegiance to motorbikes and stopped working on cars (nowhere to put them). I also lived in San Francisco for a couple of years--now that's a great place for driving/riding!
Ciao,
JZH