Dang man!
Yes, I would definitely get it running again and find whatever was causing those issues before going EFI. What your describing doesn't sound like it has anything to do with fuel. "Crunching" noises aren't something you normally fix with a carburetor.
You'll want to be able to tune the EFI when you get it going again, and you won't be able to do that right if there's something else going on. And that could cause a whole new host of issues.