[sykopenguin]

Ok First of all some history on the car:
1994 S-10 Chevy Blazer 4.3L Vortec
180,000 Miles

a) 1 week after I bought it the Check Engine Light came on and hasn't been off since. Also started getting a rich gas smell. I was burning a fulltank of gas in 2 days driving only about 110 miles. $37 every 2 days!!!
b) 3 weeks later the gas gauge would only go up to 1/4 a tank even if I had a full tank of gas.
c) 1 week later car started having trouble starting up. It would idle up and down for about 5 secs and shut off. I'd restart it again and it would idle up and down again and smooth out and stay on. While the car is idleing up and down at start the battery meter was going up and down also from 0 - 20v. It still does this.
d) 1 week later the gas gauge totally stopped working. Still doesn't work.
e) 1 week later the car is losing acceleration at full speeds around 65 mph. I'd be driving on the interstate and all of a sudden speed drops and I can't get much power. I can keep the car going at least 40mph if i barely hit the gas pedal. This still happens.
f) 2 days later after driving the car for about 10 mins and coming to a red light and completely stopping I can barely accelerate when the light turns green. I can get to at least 10 mph thats only when barely hitting the gas pedal. If I give the car alittle more gas It starts popping (I think from the exhaust). The only way I can get the car to accelerate properly is to turn the car off and restart it back up. This practically happens everytime i come to a dead stop and want to accelerate again. Now sometimes I'll get lucky to where I can accelerate to about 25 mph and then about 15 secs later something kicks in and I can accelerate faster.
Ohh yeah the car idles fine after starting up...even at a complete stop.

What I was suggested 2 do:
1) Clean EGR Valve or Replace
2) Replace CPI / Nut Kit
3) Replace Fuel Filter
4) Check Fuel Pressure
5) Check TPS
6) Check 4 Loose pieces of internal catalytic converter
7) Check the ignition coil tower for corrosion
8) Change Distributor Cap / Rotor / Spark Plugs
9) Clean Gas Tank of Debris
10) Check O2 / Camshaft / MAF Sensors???
11) Check Exhaust Backpressure (cat)
12) Replace Cam Sensor
13) Check timing???
14) Check Idle Air Control Valve
15) Injector Cleaner in fuel tank.
16) Check coil for arching???

Now heres the deal I have about $800 to spend and I'm totally new to this car repair business and no I won't be paying for labor on the repairs. Which of these should I try and are the most important. So If anyone has any advice for me it would be greatly appreciated if you can point me in a direction on where I can get info on how to fix whatever you suggested. If not its cool to...I'll just research on google. Thank in advanced guys for your advice.