5.7 0r 6.1 with msd hemi 6 and carb

Just read through this thread and it stops at a dead end -

I don't want to re-open old wounds but could the OP or someone else advise if the timing debate and power loss was resolved?

As I may well be doing this type of conversion shortly - Id like to know if there was a component issue or if it was resolved through tuning?