i love my car. i am sentimentally attached to it, unfortunately it has sat in my yard for 2 years and is now a mere project. anyone know where or have cheap front end body parts i am in need of every front end body/chassis part except driver side fender and i also need blinker assembly for both sides (front end) i have also encountered a problem which i believe to be clutch related. it will start and go into gear, but when i try to go (forward or reverse) i hear a loud grinding sound. i am currently pulling the tranny out and am going to check the clutch plates. but the main question is should i go with aftermarket performance parts or just stock parts, and what kind of difference would it make? if anyone would be noble enough to answer these questions i would VERY much appreciate it.

Be careful, the differential part of the transaxle is common to fail. One test is to check for play at the output shafts. When it's out you can get a better feel on how smoothly they turn.

cool. thanks for the help. i will keep that in mind.