Please tell me I made a smart commitment....

That's where I'm coming from, too.

My argument on the 360 is that it takes all sorts of work to get something like a complete engine install and tune done twice. There are costs that you don't see yet, coming your way that will only hit you two-fold, should you decide to mess with the engine compartment.

My boss is in the same boat. He just picked up a car that cost him about the same coin and doesn't have enough to put in it, so he's thinking about how to get around the cost or bailing on it.

This kind of buyer's remorse is easily cured with a single plan; Restore the car.

There are plenty of things that you can be doing on it right now, that won't even cost you a dime, like documenting it's breakdown with a camera, bagging, shelving and tagging everything, while you get it ready for paint.

Forget the engine, entirely, right now and focus on the body. No matter what you do, it's going to need paint, which is the first thing that needs to be done on a restoration, anyway.

Getting the car into a stage of primer should give you plenty of time, without wasting any, on what color you want to do (I'd go by the color code) and you won't be wasting money to get it there, regardless of what your plans end up being, once it's time to buy basecoat.

This will give you the amount of time you need to weigh the pros and cons of your options on everything, while still making awesome progress on the car.

I've flip-flopped on color choices like crazy for my '68 Charger and after my tastes grew over the years, I ended up deciding to keep the original color, because it happens to be my favorite color as of now.

I think once you get more familiar with the car, start doing research online and start doing body and paint, to get the shell ready for a drivetrain and interior, you will have a good idea about how and when you will budget all of it.

Do it once, man. You will thank yourself in the end. This is coming from someone who has restored over 20 cars, top to bottom and has done countless paint jobs. That's where you start for lots of reasons.