CORTY HELP PLEASE

Heloooooo one and all, im new to the forum and hoping for a little help deciding on the project im picking up sunday, it will be my new beloved '75 td Cortina 2L wagon:P
now this is going to be my new daily and it REEEEEAAAALLLLYYYY doesn't need any proper work whatsoever, all original motor trans ect ect its a 4 on the floor and its even still got the pollution canister and original air cleaner hooked up.
now for the question, im trying  to convince myself of how I should go about this, ive so far got 2 ideas.

option1=I previously have been driving a mk2 escort(long storey short it is beyond my budget to repair so im selling it)which the previous owner poorley fit a 2L motor to its 1.3L chassis so I pulled it and tarted the motor up(4barrel intake, msd efi and a unleaded converted cylinder head) in this scenario id like to pull the performance parts from this and put them on the original motor and use the type 9 gearbox(modified so the shifter position replicates the corty/escort boxes) behind it.

option2=the second idea I had tempting as it may be im trying to convince myself not to do lol, im thinking of converting it to a 250 crossflow and t5 transmission now im aware the radiator support and gearbox mounts require modification to do so and this is why im trying to convince myself its a bad idea lol, the cars so damned original and in good nick that the front seats aren't even torn!
so ladies and jellyspoons what are your thoughts, including whichever option I go with any ideas to pull the horsepower up WITHOUT turbo's or superchargers(especially turbos)

cheers for the welcome and reply drew,
ill be putting pics up as soon as I have it in my hot little hands, its a sort of marone/red/bronzy colour (im told its original paint)and the trim is tan, I only have 1 massive problem with option 3 drew.... me lol im historically terrible for wanting to make things on my cars for lack of better words hot rodded, I love taking something and just making it my own, giving it more horses, gears and in some instances style. the other side to the coin is I cant stand  driving newer cars, they just don't have the character and soul they should, the whole reason im buying the corty is to mke it the new daily drive as my beloved escort has succumbed beyond my budget to the dreaded cancer( needs front floor, chassis rails and the firewall and guards) it was my first car and daily till I decided to strip it and do a complete "resto" obviously not taking it back to factory specs because I cant help myself but having it finished as a tight little beast  by the end of its journey, alas the cancer repairs paint and dents all were going to cost me 20k and a year, and as its a panelvan and im beginning to need to take on more passengers its no longer a viable option for that kind of money:(