A word about safety...
I know a lot of know-nothings like me read this page and go out and try to do things to their cars, so I wanted to take a moment to remind you to always work safely on your car, and share a few of my tips for doing so.
Here's a picture of Bloo up in the air for the front shock replacement I did last week. I have a good floor jack, wheel chocks behind the rear wheels, the main jackstands under the front arms (to put the weight of the car on the front suspension, which was recommended for shock removal), and I have a second set of jackstands further back, in about the same place as the factory manual recommends you use to jack the car up to change a flat. This way if a jackstand fails, there's a second to back it up. It may seem paranoid, but when I lift the whole car off the ground, like when I replaced the suspension, I had two jackstands at each corner. Let's face it, these cars are heavy, and there's no point risking killing yourself for your hobby, when good jackstands are so cheap.
Be careful too when it comes to things like working around a running engine. Fan blades, fan belts, and hot headers can all get you by surprise. Don't wear loose clothes, tie back long hair, and take off jewlery, especially rings and necklaces.
My father was a mechanic for many years, and I believe he had two batteries blow up while he was working under the hood. So take precautions, and be careful not to set metal tools on your battery that could connect the poles and make a spark (I know, it's a convenient flat space under the hood, but resist the temptation). I disconnect the battery before doing any work. Partially because you never know when you might leave a door open and you don't want that dome light draining your battery, but then again, you never know when you might accidently hit some wiring and light something off or start a fire.
Keep your work area clean and clean up spills immediately. You don't want to slip in that oil you dripped on the floor, and you don't want your pets licking up antifreeze that leaked out when you changed that hose. That stuff's poison. If you know you're going to make a mess, a big square of cardboard makes a nice dropcloth to make cleanup easier.
So that's all my recommendations for being safe in the shop. Always use your best judgement to make every job you do as safe as possible. If anyone else has any other ideas, feel free to let me know, and I'll add them up here. Now you go be careful, be safe, and have fun. This is a hobby, after all.