[Water Warrior 2]

Past experience and advice ? You can spend a pile of money to achieve nothing noteworthy. For every small achievement that works rather well you have created at least 2 disadvantages that will haunt you later.
Rather than trying for more power, performance or pizzaz I learned to concentrate on reliability and ease of serviceing. I learned the designers of cars, trucks and bikes are better equiped than I am to make things that don't break. I gave up on aftermarket performance parts and stuff because you are at their mercy when things go south. OEM parts are more readily available and they have a better overall quality to them.
I haven't tried modding an engine for a long time and have never had a stocker go bad or die to soon. But don't let me dissuade your plans. I want to see the results with younger enthusiasm and more resources thanks to the internet.