I’m confused, and need some advice

[gmebey]

I’m getting ready to teardown my truck and dive into the driver terrain, but I’m conflicted. A co-work who has done a few conversions is being adamant about replacing the carbureted 350 and TH400 with a more modern LS1/LT1 with a700R transmission to make the truck more modern. His only logical argument is “it is better”.

However my thought is I like the simplicity of the 350 and TH400…..BUT…I need some advice from people with more experience restoring/fixing up a 1969 pickup.

My end goal is to have a nice truck as a weekend driver. The only modifications I was planning to do was to update the gauges, add power brakes, put disc brakes on the front and add 3-point seat belts.

I’m looking for options on which is more cost effective between the two options of an engine/tranny update and rebuilding the ones I have.

Is it even worth staying with the older engine and transmission knowing the challenges of maintaining the carbureted engine over the hassle of the engine/tranny swap.

Please provide your opinions.

Thanks,
Gerald