Chatter at start and ball joints

[jls]

Hi, I have a 95 SVX. I bought it new and it now has 150K miles on it. I want to keep it forever, but I'm running up against some possibly expensive repairs. I have 2 questions:

1) There is a chatter noise in the front (center?) that lasts a couple of seconds when I accelerate from a stop. The noise does not occur when going over rough road, so I don't think it is caused by something loose. If I accelerate very slowly I don't hear the noise, and the volumn of the chatter increases with the rate of acceleration. Any ideas on what might be causing this and how expensive the repair would be?

2) This is the BEST car I've ever owned. However, I'm being told that the lower ball joints need to be replaced, front bearings need to be replaced (again) as well as new tires and regular maintenance. What do these typical replacements run if a shop does the work? Are these things a novice, with limited tools, can replace? I'm trying to decide whether or not to get the repairs done, or buy a new car. I have already replaced the radiator, but that is the only major repair done in the past several years.

Your thoughts and comments are very much appreciated.