LeBaron 3.0 Drivetrain

[Xperiment625]

Howdy All!
This is my first experiance owning a Chrysler product so I'm glad to find plenty of other people that don't mind offering up their brains for picking. I ain't so dumb as to not appreciate the superior knowledge of people that have walked a path long before I did.
I just aquired a 1994 LeBaron last week after it sat out in my back paddock for a few months after the winter equestrian season down here. The car looked like hell sitting out in the grass, mildew growing on the paint and top, and the interior floor soaked from rain water from the leaky convertible. I figgued I'd clean it up a bit and unload it for a grand or so...HEY, it's a convertible and this IS Florida.
I spent two days cleaning it...the more I cleaned, the more potential this thing was showing, besides the fact that there's only 40,000 on the odometer and so far everything that wasn't working I've been able to repair without parts. (Automatic door locks, both rear electric windows, blown seals on the top raising piston, etc...) I had part of a left over gallon of nice pearl white Imron from a semi truck paint job this past winter, so I gave it a fresh color coat Saturday morning.
Yesterday evening, it being pretty damn presentable once again, the dog and I took a ride down to the beach...wrong thing to do.
Now I ain't so sure I want to sell this critter so quickly, my first car was a convertible MG, my second car was a convertible Triumph, and it's been twenty years since I had a convertible...it sure is a nice change from the pickup trucks I've been driving since the British cars of my youth.
Here's the hitch though, somebody put the little Mitsubishi into the engine bay sideways. Some smartass on the assembly line on a Friday afternoon no doubt. I've never delt with transaxles and constant velocity unions before, inline transmissions, drive shafts and differentials I understand reasonably well, but I'm ready to loose my FWD cherry now.
The problem is this: once the car has reached roughly 40mph it begins to feel as if there's a square tire on the drivers side front. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP... The thumping alleviates when the car is kept at a constant speed or decelerates. This thumping is bad enough that I KNOW it ain't a tire out of balance, so my second thought is that the CV joint is screwed, however; given my inexperiance with front wheel drive, looking at it may not teach me much. So, before I take things apart, I'm looking for some wisdom from people that are smarter than I am. I understand that there's an inner and outer joint (like a universal joint?), the axle between them, and a boot over each to pack with grease. If the boot is shot, should the joint be replaced at the same time? Will the joint obviously show damage like a worn out U-joint?
Any help ya'll can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the input

[Polygon]

If the boot has had any holes in it at all then you're going to have to replace the joint. CV joints don't really show any signs of wear like the U joints do but if dirt and other things have gotten in there, they have no doubt chewed up the bearings.