If your moving to CA, you may have issues passing emissions with a JDM engine. I don't know the specific laws since I'm in PA, and I believe as long as you keep everything hooked up and leave the cat on it will pass a sniffer test, but you probably won't pass a visual without jumping through some legal hoops. I don't know specificaly what you have to do, and the internet version changes every time someone tells it, but it's something I would keep in mind.

I still say stick with the B18B. The difference in torque means you'll be downshifting everytime you have to go up a hill. My '98 EX (with the stock D16Y8) sometimes needs 3rd gear to really pull up certain hills. My '92 CX with a B18C1 would go up just fine in 5th. The light weight CX had something to do with, but I think the bigger displacement 1.8L engine had more (at 2500-3000, the VTEC wasn't much of an issue). I was actually shopping for a B20 for my '98 EX (I still have all the GS-R tranny stuff, but sold the long block) but I decided to go back to school and money's getting tight. I was really curious what the extra displacement of that engine would have done for me.

For a $2000 budget you could freshen up the B18B with a new set of rings and maybe a set of new cams. I was looking at the Crower 402 or 403's for the B20 I never bought. They offer good power throughout the powerband and get some respectable top end gains as well. If your compressions good and the clutch is up for it, a small turbo isn't out of the question on $2000 either. I just like to make people's lives harder by giving them more options.