How difficult is a cam swap?

I will look for long tubes. I thought the Dakota headers may fit since they were short.
I’m surprised the 360 can pull that hard without a cam increase. Sounds like I can maybe skip the cam swap, and still be impressed.
While the engine is on a stand, should I advance the cam, look for thin head gaskets, and clean up any chunks or lips in the heads? With care, I know there can be nice gains from port and polish work, but I never did that either.