2.5L 85 - start problems, exhaust leak, carburetor?

Hey so let me start by saying I'm a complete newbie. I just bought my first car a few months ago and I've replaced the clutch master cylinder and water pump so far, but I'm still learning what most of the stuff in my car is and how it all works.
It is a 1985 2.5L 4-cylinder manual Jeep Cherokee.

Anyways for a little while it took about 2-3 times to start the car, and I'd have to give some gas to get going. It started getting worse after a while and it would take 4, 5 times to get started. I thought this might be a carburetor adjustment issue and tried to figure it out with my manual, but couldn't figure it out.

A week ago or so it got really bad, especially if I didn't give it a ton of gas after starting, it would stall right out. Then it was even harder to start the car (maybe the carb was flooded). There was a time when it took like 10 times to start it up.
I still kept driving it, and soon a nasty thumping noise started, which a friend told me was very likely an exhaust leak. It only makes that noise when I have my foot on the gas.
I've read in a few places that it isn't recommended to do an exhaust manifold leak repair yourself, because often the bolts will break off when you try to remove them. Any comments about that? Is this a tricky fix?

I had a hard time starting it one morning, drove a couple minutes and stopped to get gas. After that, it turned on and rolled for a couple feet, then stalled out and would not start no matter what I did. I pushed it into a parking spot and left to go mountain biking for a few hours, and then it started just fine when i returned, with a heavy foot on the gas pedal. It squealed super bad though, as it has been when I start it and jam on the gas. I haven't tried to drive it since then.

Could this be more than a carburetor problem? A friend suggested it could be the distributor or spark plugs, (I recently put a plate on the transmission bell housing and had to remove the starter, and it looked fine so I don't think it's the starter itself).

Some issues that people pointed out were that there is a missing tub from the air filter on the carburetor to some air intake (circled in blue) and I just noticed that maybe a vacuum hose or something should be coming off the back of the carburetor air filter (circled in red).
I also recently replaced the little filter in the carburetor air filter (now a green foam filter).

Sorry this is so long and not very technically/well explained, I'm brand new to working on cars. Also if you could limit your use of lingo and explain acronyms/where to find certain parts in the engine, that would be greatly appreciated.


http://i.imgur.com/2BdFJR1.jpg missing pieces?

http://i.imgur.com/mFgSyV2.jpg new filter

http://i.imgur.com/zhTi8yk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MRkhVUo.jpg carburetor

http://i.imgur.com/GfMjw1N.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jy6bT3x.jpg exhaust leak?

http://i.imgur.com/GQ3JvHY.jpg spark plugs?

http://i.imgur.com/i5rYSNU.jpg

Did u check the timing?


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Pull the distributor cap and check your points and rotor, it doesn't look like that cap has been off in a while. There is a contact point in the middle and on the end of the rotor (the rotor carries the spark from the coil to the distributor contacts your plug wires are plugged into) You'll need a timing light and a dwell meter to get things running smooth. your book should tell you how to set the timing and dwell. you'll need a feeler gauge to set your points(dwell). Start with a good tune-up and a fresh fuel filter. If your still having problems after that, go through your trouble shooting list, or check back here.
I hope this helps, Good luck!