my engine dieing?
 

i'm hearing a rough sound from the engine . sounds like metal scrapping, and popping . she's got 151,xxx miles. its an 90 GTU. every so often when I can get the tranny to run smooth I still hear these bad sounds. any ideas? or is it time to start looking for a new engine / rebuild?

Engine running hot? Checked compression? Loose heat shield @ exhaust manifold?

engine heat is normal. she comes up to temp normal stays at normal. the heat shield is gone from around the cats, it had broken off and was rattling a lil too much for my taste so I removed it. as far as compression I don't have anything to check that with at this time.