just today, i had the following repairs done:

1) bolt on right side of intake manifold was broken causing HORRIBLE exhaust leak noise
2) intake manifold gasket was replaced as well
3) valve cover gasket was replaced because it had started leaking noticibly
4) oil & filter change
5) plugs, wires & distubutor cap replaced (noticed plug wires said "1997" on them so they must've been originals...10 years & 195k miles later OOPS) lol

car has a generic short-ram intake & filter is somewhat dirty, but not horribly so. it has always been louder than normal because of the short-ram intake, but now it's under hard acceleration & is sluggish from start.

at 80ish, if going up a hill & trying to maintain speed, when it shifts into passing gear, the power isn't there & that's when the loudness is the worst.

but, it will slowly accelerate to well over 90, as long as not shifting into passing gear. also, engine rpm is the same as always at 80mph....~3000rpm

gas mileage has also dropped from 27+ to 20ish & sometimes less...but i think most of that might have been due to the shitty plug/wires situation

now i'm thinking the HORRIBLE exhaust noise/performance could be several things.....

1) clogged fuel injectors?...but that only accounts for sluggishness & not loud exhaust noise
2) defective intake manifold gasket?
3) clogged catalytic converter?...possibly caused too much back-pressure & blowing of exhaust manifold gasket(?)
4) dead cylinder?...but seems like if that were the case, it would run noticible worse & rough, which it doesn't
5) something else?

thoughts? questions? ideas? thanks a bunch