StreetFanatic

Well to start things off I am new here. I have a5.7Lvortec that has no mods.I have a few things here so bare with me. To start things off I have a leak somewhere in the intake and heads cause I get water in my exhaust after it warms up. I really don't want to have to replace the heads if they are fine so is there a way to check without having to take all that stuff out. Ok next thing is, I plan to change the intake manifold anyways but don't get the warm and fuzzy when I try to look for upgrades. When I see them I am looking for the spots that hold all the other parts that mount to the stock upper manifold. I wonder if the extra parts are neccessary to the system. I was taking stuff off and trying to just look around and noticed a solenoid perhaps sensor looking piece between the thermo stat inlet and the AC compressor. I have tried to look in my chilton's and can't find the part. Well to sum things up has anyone done this type of work that can give some tips and pointers to set me at ease so I can get this over with.

Thanks