Is it worth it
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Don't even start in a hobby like cars if you are concerned even the least bit about the money it will take and being able to recoup what you have into it. It will drive you nuts and you will not end up with what you want...
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I disagree with the strict interpetation of that statement.
If you do the work yourself, do it tastefull and have some consideration of resale you can minimize the dollars put in versus the dollars from re-sale.
At only 17 years old if you stick with this hobby, this WILL NOT BE YOUR ONLY MOPAR. There is a good chance you will want to sell your car at some time. And I bet you will think it is worth more than it is and you WILL BE DISSAPOINTED.
I can show you examples even on the internet of people your age that built a car, said they'd never sell it, and now are bummed what they can't sell it for. A 70 Duster that was on the cover of Mopar Muscle comes to mind.
Get knowledgable in the hobby first. And make wise decisions.
At 17 years old I looked for a Mopar for my first car. Even in 1987 I knew about build sheets, numbers matching motors, body stamps, and data tag decoding. I bought a non running '71 Challenger 383 auto R/T with numbers motor, build sheet and fender tag. It took me two years, but I got a car that had good docs.
Looking back I should have got a running car. My younger brother at 16 bought a numbers 70 Mach I Mustang grabber blue. Much better purchase at a first car since it was running.
The advice I got from one of the very early people in the Mopar musclecar hobby was to the start with the best groundwork possible.
Also, you can do a lot to the car you have now appearance wise for little money.