I have a 94 z28 with 161000 miles, it has started to hesitate upon acceleration and the engine is making a rattling sound, could a head gasket be the cause of this?

 

hard to tell what the noise is without hearing your car
Do you have water in the oil ? Or lots of water vapor coming out the exhaust ?
you can do a pressure test on the coolant system to see if you have any leaks
when is the last time you changed the plugs ? could be spark knock

 

Duplicate topic, cross-posted on two forums.