I've been following this thread from the beginning, and you remind me of me, when I was your age. I'm 22 now, and still not any wiser.
Basically, have fun with it. It's an old car, so it's going to attract attention regardless. It's like a '57 chevy 4-door I saw at a car show last year. Unmolested, with a 235 and oil bath air cleaner. Sure, it have a bit of scuffing and "patina" around the rockers, and the paint was faded. But this sucker was a survivor! Prettiest one there in my opinion - much neater than the high dollar frame offs everyone else was entranced with.
Like everyone else said - start small. Get yourself an intake and exhaust. The Stovebolt Headers are a great piece, and the pipes get bent up to them at whatever angle. Easy to remedy, have an exhaust shop mandrel bend them, and fab the rest, or buy a handful of angles from a parts store, and start trying to make it work. If you have more time than money (like me..and a lot of other guys) then you get creative. The truck headers would need to be sectioned so that they didn't drag on the ground, street sweeper style. Not saying it can't be done - hell, it's what I'll be doing with my Chevy II, because I already have a set.
After the bolt ons, and driving that around for a bit, find a cam and get ready for that swap. Pick yourself up a spare head, and get some work done on that WHILE you are still driving the car. Lumps, bigger valves, a bit of porting, etc. When you tear it down to put your new head and cam (unless the cam is already in) think about maybe putting some 307 flat top pistons in it, to bump the compression.
Bit by bit man, don't jump into this and get swamped and over whelmed. You'll end up discouraged like the rest of the fair weather old car fans. If you can see immediate results, though, it really does boost your moral.
You have a neat car, thats in amazing condition. Have fun with it, learn, and be young. You have your whole life to have a "perfect" car. So, make the best of it, and use whatcha got.
-ahem-.
My apologies for the long winded post.
-Sam.
