1st gens are cool imo.... I've seen some with serious powerplants, all it takes is the obvious.... time and money.
Good luck with the car. If you get the chance, check out crxresource.org, very helpful site and the guys on there are usually pretty cool. One of the these days I'll re-register on there...
some nics 1st gens from the last crx meet:
nice red 1st gen w/ a b16
very clean black 1st gen
close up of the dash in the black one
engine bay of the black 1st gen...
Another red 1st gen... very clean