I need schooling - old vs. new engines

I can give this example. I go help my friend Matt every now and again. He does high end restorations. Sometimes, he gets one that wants EFI and some other bells and whistles added to an already finished project. The few times I've helped with that, they were all lumpy cammed. When the EFI was added, it calmed the idle down drastically. One customer even swore and be damned we recammed it. We had to show him where there no witness marks on any engine fasteners and even then he had a hard time swallowing it. I prefer lumpy. lol
I wonder if you could "change" that by modifying the timing curve right at idle