It's a pain? I'd say it's far more of a pain to remove the intake when there's absolutely no reason to do that just to change the cap and rotor! 1998454 - Are you kidding?
Two bolts and two harness connectors get the coil/ignition module off the back of the plenum and out of your way, then the cap and rotor are totally accessible.
Yes, you have to lay down across the top of the engine to do this, but it's really not that bad.
EDIT - this always bears mentioning when discussing replacing a Vortec distributor cap - RE-USE YOUR OLD SCREWS. Replacement caps often come with threadlocker on the screws or may not be the "exact" correct thread; it's very easy to break the plastic tabs on the distributor body where the cap screws on. It doesn't need any help from funky screws.