I re-read my posts and realized I might be coming across as bossy - not trying to. I was just trying to be helpful. When I was younger, and just started working on cars (I'm not saying that is your situation, this is my personal experience with it), I used to sweat everything. I would start working on something, and then the vision of all the other stuff I would have to (or should) do would start piling up, and I'd talk to my dad - I'd be like "Dad, I want more power." He's like "yup." "I need a new turbo," I says, "and I need to get bigger injectors to support it, and I'll have to tune the ECU, and I'll need a larger intercooler, and the wheels will slip from all this new power, so I'll need an LSD, and only a Quaife will do (expensive!), and well shit now my bottom end is going to grenade because it won't be able to take the added strain, etc." He says I'm crazy, tells me to turn up the manual boost controller, and be happy. Two examples there of very different extremes. What I ended up doing, over time, was getting the head ported, tuned the computer, got larger injectors, and cranked the boost up, then called it a day. I eventually learned that it was just too easy to over-plan, over-engineer things. I was afraid, back then, that if I didn't do the whole 9 yards, I wouldn't be getting everything I could out of the car. And you know what? It was true. To this day, that car has a lot more potential in it, *if I'm willing to throw the money at it.* But I'm not willing. I've got a house, a GF, 2 other cars that I really enjoy. And that car is pretty damn quick as it is.
My point, and suggestion, and essentially what I learned, is that all too often the full up route just isn't worth the money, the ROI just isn't there (unless you are going to race the car or have a dyno queen or something like that). For my situation at that time, I was wrong to be thinking about that full build path, it just didn't make sense for where I was. But I also realized that my dad was wrong too - his solution was too simple, too lazy. Now, he didn't want me to break the the car, so he wasn't intentionally giving me bad info. But I know how he is, and how I am. He would turn the boost up a little, and live it. That's his personality. Me, I'd turn it up a little, and then later turn it up a little more, and then later on a little more, until I crossed that line. And then boom. So I went for the middle ground. I did some reasonable work that would support me cranking a little more here and there, and you know what? It worked out pretty well. I didn't go into debt over the car, and I still really enjoyed driving it. And it didn't grenade on me. And I can tell you this, I do NOT want to be putting money into that car right now, not with my GF, house, STI and Mustang. That money has better uses IMO. Had I gone the easy route, I could easily be rebuilding a motor for that car right now.
So I recommend trying to find that balance, where ever it happens to for you. If it ends up being "run it until it breaks" then that's fine, that's what works for you. However I would urge you to think somewhat further down the road, just try not to fall into the trap of ending up with a full resto on your hands
Sorry for the wall of text, here's a picture!