Kishkumen

So my 98 civic lx just blew a head gasket (not fun). So I decided to do some research on the forums and found some options I like. I figure that as long as the head, etc. needs to come off and probably be machined, I might as well do a relatively cheap upgrade. My budget isn't huge, mostly it's a commuter car, but I'd love a little extra power if I'm going to be putting money into it anyway.

So I've narrowed it down to either a D16Y8 swap or just going for the mini-me without changing the whole motor. I want to keep it inexpensive (1k-1.5k or less preferably). I'm pretty new to cars but my cousin's husband is a former mechanic with a lot of experience with hondas and he'll be helping me out. Still, I'd like to do a lot of it myself so I don't take up too much of his time and learn some of it on my own.

So factoring in budget and difficulty, which route should I go? If you think I should go with a professional about how much would that cost? Currently I'm leaning towards maybe doing a mini-me myself with my cousin's husband helping out because it seems a little easier. Still, the full swap would give me more power and would maybe avoid some of the crap that got me the blown head gasket in the first place. The only thing I'm concerned about with the full swap would be difficulty.

(And because I know it's going to be asked, no, I'm not sure yet if the block has been warped.)

Thanks