so the heads I got had no lifters in them. I have a couple good sets of lifter but is there anything special I need to do before I put them in? Not like rebuilding them or anything but I've heard of them needing to be 'pumped up'. Is that true? If it is, how do I do it?

it is true that they need to be pumped up - my FSM is extremely vague on the proceedure - but as I understand it you need to submerge it in motor oil and pump it until no bubbles come out of it/it feels firm.

I would pump them up like 85sub4wd described. I have also heard that for this, it works well to submerge them in ATF, due to its higher detergent level. Soaking them overnight after this and before installing them also tends to help.