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You can do a stand-alone ECU that'll interface with the stock gauges like Haltech or Motec and keep the engine's fuel injection components. No need to take a step backwards with an EFI carb setup.
I started on carbs as well and can still tear them apart/modify them for performance applications I'm looking at LS crate engines now. An LS7 would be a beautiful thing in a G or Z. But it's $13K just for the engine (new).