a headgasket change is actually fairly straight forward, assuming nothing is too siezed up.

drain the oil, drain the coolant, set the engine to 'safe' position, remove alternator and timing belt, remove air filter assembly, dizzy cap and leads from plugs, undo inlet manifold from head and tie back against the bulkhead, remove exhaust manifold, remove cam cover, remove camshaft (cant remember if its in the way of the headbolts on an 8v) undo the headbolts 1/4 turn at a time in the reverse of the tightening sequence untill thees no pressure on them. tap sides of head with a rubber mallet. lift off.

definatly get the head skimmed, and give it a good once over. get it pressure tested if youre not sure.

refitting is the reverse of removal

seriously, its only a couple of hours work to get the head off, the only tricky bits are usually getting the crankshaft pulley bolt undone, the timing belt tensioner and some of the manifold bolts are a bit fittly to get to.