I believe in this discussion it's a mistake to look for models or guides only in "intellectual history." Much more directly interesting for historians of economics, I think, is the new history of science, all the more so since so many economists have thought they were doing science, that economics was or could be a science. 
Maybe all or most of you know this field well. If any do not, check the work of the recipients of the J.D. Bernal Prize.