Nice bike! And good for you! The only way to learn is to dive in, tear down, and fiddle. And it's so rewarding! I learned ( and screwed up) on an old Raleigh touring bike that was my "go to Mardi Gras day 'cause I don't care if somebody messes with it bike". It had a rebuildable bottom bracket, giving me bragging rights for having done one. Thank god for cartridge BBs .
It got an appropriately bizarre paint job while it was stripped to the frame, too. Every year it gets more odd stuff applied... But now I want that sparkly blue, it's so pretty.
Once you have a crank puller you're way far gone into the cycling ether. Congrats! You now fly with the Wright brothers.

Lizzy


And yeah, the Wright Bros. were bike shop guys who took cycling to it's logical conclusion. We are all Chuck Jaeger's spiritual second cousins. Mull that over.