Seeking opinions on staying original or going modern

[bh86]

So I’ll keep a long story short here. I picked up a really neat 68 k10 short bed stepside that I pulled out of a barn a few years back and put some love into. I got it to be a nice driver and an all around really neat truck, but it drove me nuts that I could see the pavement when I looked at was once the floor lol. I had a guy that had done work for me and things had gone well, he gave me a bid on doing a frame off build and it made sense so I agreed. Fast forward over two years now and it’s been a total nightmare. My truck is in a pile of parts the guy that was supposed to be restoring it got half way through the cab and went off the rails. Wife left him and he lost it blah blah blah. He’s a train wreck and I’m now gathering myself back together and have locked down a new resto ship that’s solid. I’m ready to get it done and done right but I’m torn on which direction to take it. The truck was an original I6 truck, 4 speed, Orange, government ordered truck from what we can tell and the one thing that sets it apart is the fact it was ordered with a factory winch. I don’t know wether I want to keep it 100% original or make it something I can actuallly drive with modern power etc. As much as I’d like to say I’ll never sell it I know that would be a lie so overall value when finished matters. My main question is wether there’s any real good reason to keep it original, will it be more valuable? I can replace the drivetrain and keep all of the original numbers matching stuff with it if that helps. Regardless of the direction I take I will be adding power steering and brakes just to make it livable on a daily basis. Any way, I am torn between keeping the I6, going with a sbc, or committing to an ls build. Any and all opinions are welcome. I did locate the original winch off of this trucks twin that it appears I could purchase also. If I keep it I6 or sbc I’d reinstall the winch, if I go the LS route I think I’ll ditch that idea. I attached pics of the truck when I found it and after I had it up and running, I’ll keep the original exterior look, color, wheels etc. Thanks in advance for the advice and opinions.