Hi Enoch, firstly a warm welcome to the forum
my own build has a 1.8 cvh engine, as it came straight from the donor car & so easy for the paperwork side of things come IVA time, maybe not the most exciting engine but have been told is quite sprightly in a Roadster
may i suggest if you go for a full donor car then use the engine from that, you can always upgrade later & the mrs won,t feel the cost so much
,
a Roadster that i see very often
has a 2ltr zetec on bike carbs & megajolt & is one rapid car , approx 170bhp.
best regards & good luck with your build, you,ll find the forum is a friendly place with very helpful folk always on hand to offer help etc.
andy