C GT problem

[Carbooks1 at aol.com]

Help !

My 87.5 C GT hesitates upon acceleration from a stop and almost dies. I 
literally have to slip the clutch and feather the throttle. Everyone thinks it's 
because of turbo lag. The problem is that there's no turbo to lag..... after the 
car gets rolling it's OK, but moving from a standstill is embarrassing at 
best. Whenever the foot is taken off the throttle the revs drop to zero and 
sometimes the car dies, other times it jumps back up to 8-900.
At every stoplight I am constantly blown off by diesel powered Chevettes that 
have 5 sumo wrestlers as passengers.
When I come to a stop at a light the car usually dies. 
While under the car I noticed a 1 inch diameter (approx.) hose that is 
supposed to attach to, I believe, the exhaust manifold but the fitting has rusted 
off.
I also get the impression that it's running too rich but I am not sure.
I replaced the plugs and that didn't help one bit. The cat is new also.

Any suggestions for a novice mechanic?

Thanks

Ron
C GT