bohemian rhapsody

OK, well, my part of the project is done. All of the pieces were disassembled, cleaned, sanded (repeatedly), primered and painted. I even got the piece I pulled out yesterday after work, yup, decided to do one more part of the dash. It's up to Bill now. He's supposed to do the electrical work. The whole point of the project was to redo the electrical (and to hide the wires). It looks pretty damn good, not perfect as if it came off the assembly line but good for what it's supposed to do. After installation and cleaning the car I'll snap a few photos of the redone console. Of course it contrasts with the rest of the dash and the interior but it's only the first phase of doing the whole dang thing.
I'm trying to figure out what I want to do next. The interior stuff is relatively cheap to redo, but I want to save up to do an engine swap. Research online points to a B18 VTEC, 160hp and just general badass-ness. Unfortunately a brand new VTEC engine costs a pretty penny (almost $2000) and then there's the additional costs like tools, replacement parts, and an engine crain. Plus, if I get a good engine I'll need a new transmission and I haven't even begun looking for one yet. Not like I've done any of this to any other car, but I don't know anything about transmissions except for gear ratios. I know what they are, I don't know how to change them but I know what they're supposed to do. To utilize the bigger engine I'll also need a new air intake and exhaust system. So that's a big step, the biggest for the car project.
The biggest obstacle in the whole thing is financing. I don't get paid alot and a majority of my money is tied up in food and shelter. I supposed I can just live in my car, that'll solve most of my problems but I still need a place to store my stuff. Maybe my office... there's plenty of space. At the rate I'm going, this will probably years in the making but hopefully, ultimately worth it.