I'm not sure how you can "feel" your head gasket about to go. You can certainly test it by running a compression/leak down test(s).
As far as doing the head gasket... my personal opinion is this: the easier, softer way would be to pull the motor and put it onto a stand.
It would be possible to do it without pulling the engine (you'd likely have to jack up the motor to get the bottom valve cover bolts) but leaning over that far, pulling off the manifold with engine in, and trying to keep everything clean would REALLY blow with the rest of the car in the way. Pulling out the motor should not take more than 3-5 hours if you have a good set of tools and learn the shortcuts for parts where you don't have the right tool (for example, locking the flywheel from the back of the motor to unbolt the crank pulley so you can remove timing belt cover)...
This would also be a good time to do your timing belt / water pump and inspect your clutch.
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