got her driveable

'87 gl d/r 4wd ea82 carbed wagon. can't seem to get the timing just right... runs just fine and has plenty of power and all that, but has a constant vibration that goes with engine speed. and I don't think i't's the clutch being off center, it had 2 rivets on one side of it and i put them completely opposite of the 0 mark on the flywheel. it also makes clunking noises from the front end when the wheel is turned almost full lock in either direction. does it mostly while i'm moving. do you think maybe i didn't get the castle nuts tight enough on the end of the axle stud? or did I damage the doj? i just tightened the castle nuts until I could see the hole to put the cotter pin in just fine. and there's also this strange "click click click" that SOUNDS like it's coming from the exhaust... and it's steady with engine speed. once every 1 or 2 seconds at idle. maybe it's more of a "puff puff puff??" somewhere between a click and a puff... well, more like a metalic sound actually... couldn't be due to an exhaust leak could it? and does an exhaust leak cause it to smoke alot? cuz I can't tell where in the heck the smoke is coming from... and how clean should the exhaust and head surfaces be when I swap out exhaust manifold gaskets? the ones that are on it are new, but don't you have to buy new ones if you take the exhaust apart? i'm thinking about just taking it to a shop and letting them perform the finishing touches. thanks for any help guys. sorry for such a long post... lol.

-Jordan