Unless you're doing a cam swap OR there is a bad one I would leave them alone. No reason to fiddle with them.
Intake swap is pretty straight forward. You're already aware of the coolant issue.
Only other thing(s) I can mention would be to make sure the pins on the China walls are removed if the intake doesn't have the holes for them, and to use a non hardening sealant on the intake bolts to prevent oil from wicking up the threads and pooling on the intake.
