Well your best bet if on a tight budget is to save, save, save your money... Make yourself a parts wish list for everything you want to do...Then start purchasing parts... You should buy parts in accordance with each other... Have you looked into maybe turbocharging it???

Not yet...that's why I came to the forum mainly because I'm not sure how and where to start. I was hoping that someone could give me some advice or tips about where I should start, what I should be considering, if not... at least just point me in the right direction.
About the turbocharging though...now that you mention it, if it is possible, I might actually consider putting one in...

Thinking about your overall budget will help you decide the direction. Otherwise you might (for example) buy a header only to throw it out when you decide to get a turbo.

I guess you are probably right about the budget thing. However, I'd like to ask...which is more expensive the turbo or the header? Also, which one will give me more power?
By the way, I'm sorry if I come out a little slow it's just that I'm not really mechanically inclined...the thing is I'm really passionate about cars but my personal life situation never really gave me the time to really learn about them!!!!

First of all, there's NOT ONE OF US who was born knowing all this stuff. We all were clueless at one point or another.

Turbo is more expensive but makes more power. Header is safer as far as your engine's lifespan. You (actually the shop that does the tuning) can dial up as many horsepower from a turbo as you want. Tons of boost = lots of power = blow up your engine.

There's a saying...
Cheap or Reliable or Powerful. You ONLY get to pick TWO.

Ok...I have another question...is it possible to boost my Accord (03 LX 4Cyl 5speed A/T with 163K) to 250hp or 300hp without putting in a turbo?
For now, I'm thinking about a budget around $3000-$4000. I'm not sure if it is going to be enough to do everything I'd like to do with the car. Also, I'm not going to do the work all at once so I'm thinking I might spend a lil bit more which I don't really mind plus I'm still in the saving process :)

It is possible... But would require alot more work... It is 160 hp stock... It would be very easy to just spend that 3k on a great turbo setup, You can produce 250 to 300 hp easily with 8psi boost... And if you had it done right and tuned good... For 3to4k you could easily have an extremly reliable, extremely fast 03 accord and may have money left over...To get that kinda power n/a your motor would lose alot of its drivability and it would be much more radical radical and would require much much more work... Alot of engine break down, forged internals, cams, porting and polishing, gasket matching everything, big cams, ect...

Well then, I think I got the idea...Nevermind the turbo, I'm just gonna go with reliability. With that said, I think I might have an idea where to start.
Thanks a lot for the advices guys, I really appreciate it.

Ok I am back with a new question. I went to a shop this morning in order to start looking for prices on the parts I am going to need for my project. One guy there told me that if I put in a Nitrous kit it will give me 100hp more plus the hp i would get after putting in a new header, new exhaust system and new air intake. What are you all views on that?
By the way, I decided not to go with the turbo anymore (maybe for next project) because it's going to be way out of my budget....

well for reliability nitrous is not the thing you want, sure you can hit it only when you want to but you gotta have it set up right. for instance always gotta get premium fuel in case you wanna hit it one day... nitrous is tricky and can be very dangerous. rule of thumb, only ad enough nitrous to make half the horsepower you already have so 80 max. wouldnt even shoot that high imo. you need to have a nitrous system, not just a "Kit" which involves many parts and a good one will cost you near 1000 to make it safe.

IMHO, start with an intake, then an exhaust, then get a header and see what you think. heck, did you venture into the suspension area yet? a really nice suspension setup can make a car way more fun to drive and actually let it get more of its power to the ground.