we need a boost

[Croustibat]

The problem is we are way over budget

No, the problem is you want more than you can get.

Not enough money to put a turbo ? Then don't put a turbo. it really is that simple. If you can't pay to turbo the car, you sure as hell won't be able to maintain it once it is turbo charged (i doubt you can even maintain it in its current form either).

Do it right or don't do it, unless you want to go bankrupt with a broken engine and / or car. There sure are a lot of kits for people who want to cheap out available off ebay, and you will always find people telling it is fine. Just like you can find people swearing how good isis or emusa items are (they are really crap, but they are dirt cheap, so a lot of hard parkers buy them... that and people quite never tell they were wrong buying shitty parts because they were cheap) Strangely enough though, these are the same guys that would never do it on their car. It tells quite a lot about the reliability.

These cars are fun to drive, even without that much power, and your son will be able to learn handling much easier if he does not have to always think about how 1mm of gas pedal travel will send the tyres spinning. Just put a side mount bucket seat in there (stock seat is terrible and bottom mount seats dont fit), get the car corner balanced, have bump steer dialed off, align the car, and drive it. There is no point in crying over something you can't afford, if you can't, you can't.