Back in 1978, my first trailer, a mid 60's 25' Airstream, didn't have a converter, it had a battery charger and a huge (8D - diesel starting size) battery. We full timed for almost a year and, by being sure that we had hook-ups about once a week we never had an issue with power. But, then again, all we had were a few
lights a water pump and a fan on the 12 volt side. The entire
electrical system was a single breaker for the 120 VAC side, and a real circuit board (a piece of plywood) with some terminal strips and a few fuses, for the 12 volt side. Unless I was into museum quality restoration, I would never want to go down that road again.
I just believe that as we restore our FGRV's, bringing them up to current RVing standards is always a good idea. Yes, one can get by with less and cobble together a combination of some sort that will fill their needs.
Me.... I like to ferret out what works best, and at a reasonable price, and when one finds both in an item, to promote it to others.
If one reads back in these posts, a number of happy campers who installed PD-4045's (and other brands of power chassis/converters) can be found, and at least one person that thinks that converters are a complete waste of time, space and money, can also be found. But you won't find anyone that did install a PD-4045 that isn't happy with the results.
All that said, in the real world, most buyers expect a converter and I would guess that the small expense of installing a PD-4045 would do nothing but add value for the vast majority of buyers, while the lack there of would make it a much harder sale to many future buyers.
Never forget, your first FGRV, like your first love, may not, (like certain STD's), be forever. That one ya gotta have may be just around the next bend in the road, been there and done that.....
It's a matter of personal choice and all I can do is present my opinions, of which I have many, all which are subject to correction and change as time passes.....