ok you're not gonna like this reply. but we have all been there and opinions will vary....
at 17 years old i say no its not worth it for you to be keeping the car and fixing it up.. it cost way too damn much money to be playing with these rust buckets. we all have dreams of what we want one of these cars to look like when done. but reality is the money to get it there is just nuts. at 17 what are you making? close to min wage? hell you can probably barley keep gas in the thing...
my advice to you is, sell the car. buy something more on the maintenance free side that is a lot better on gas. finish your education, get established in a job, travel and see the country, save,save and save money then find a car to play with. looking back i really wish that is what i would have done.. the money i wasted on my cars was just nuts. and that was back when you could get a spotless dart for $800 and every junk yard in the area had 30 abodies laying around. but i was 17 and knew everything. didn't listen. lol.