Engine Mounts & Mysterious Noise

[Furious E]

So I've known for some time now that the engine mounts, shocks, struts, subframe mounts, ect... are all pretty beat and in need of replacement, however being a student without time to work during the school year I've been lacking monetary resources to properly solve all the issues. Last saturday, though, the engine mounts started getting to the point where I can not really ignore them any longer and it got to the point where my car turned into a massive vibrator under the slightest acceleration and was barely driveable. I replaced the right side mount (the one by the passenger wheel well at the bottom of the timing belt cover) earlier this week, it seeming to be the most likely culprit, and that seemed to make a significant difference however there's still a pretty good shake to it.

So my issue is this: I don't start my job until next week and thus don't have the money to replace all the mounts at once. Also, since I probably won't get parts until next week and I"ll need my car to commute to work, I can't afford to get stuck with my car down for several days, which scares my away from doing the front and rear mounts right now because they look like a big freakin PITA. SO...How big of a PITA are they to do (anyone got a writeup??), if you had ~$80 to spend on mounts which would you do first, and finally if I were to install the IPD poly upper torque mount what are the odds I crack my windshield (I've heard horror stories)?

Also, seemingly in conjunction with all the extra vibration from the engine mount issue, there has been some bizarre noise coming from (i think) the rear of the car. I'm pretty sure it must be something vibrating against something else (or maybe exhaust related) but it produces this really weird noise, my girlfriend described it as sounding almost like when you blow accross the mouth of an open bottle. It generally occurs at highway speeds when accelerating or putting the engine under high load like going up a hill. Thoughts??

[InitialDriveGTR]

Personally I would go with the rear mount first, the engine is tilted back on that side, and the transmission mount and front mount are pretty close together. And I have never heard of anyone's windshield cracking

[Fudge_Brownie]

You can easily inspect the mounts by getting the car up on a jack.

Since you are asking about the IPD poly mount, does this mean you have NOT replaced the torque mount? As in the one referenced here http://volvospeed.com/torquerod.htm If so, you can easily inspect that one visually. Also, the mount close to the windshield that the rod attaches to could be toast, though this one is hard to visually inspect since it is partially covered by the rod.

Are you sure that the engine is running fine and not running rough, contributing to a dramatic change? Any CEL's? Are the vac lines silicone? Whens the last time ignition components were replaced? Any chance that the bolts to your new passanger side mount vibrated out? (Just a shot in the dark) Another way to try and find the culpret is to jack the car up, pop the hood, and have your girlfriend rev the engine repeatedly while you inspect the reaction of each mount. Or, shift from R to D, and repeat.