Trying to keep from losing money on a car is a losing fight because unless you're proficient at diagnosing and can fix issues quickly without loading up a parts cannon, you're going to be spending a lot of time chasing your tail. I've got buds that work at shops that get good deals on cars folks give up on and can make a little extra side cash with, but they lose on some that kills any money they made on 3-4 of them. Buying a project car with the idea of making money or breaking even is very hard to do unless you get very lucky on the intial purchase price. Parts/mods aren't great value adders. The cost of mods and parts is higher than ever, you're not getting paid back for changing the rear diff fluid or putting spark plug wires on it, and a blower and associated mods will never bring every dollar back to you.
Buy the best car you can afford, you're going to learn plenty just fixing regular stuff and doing maintenance - these cars are 30 years old at this point - but don't plan on breaking even or making money.
