Hi Chris and welcome. Because most interested people are like Robin (that's not always the case. Hi Robin
) you box is worth (considerably) more like it is, than if you spent money on it, repainting it. Just my unqualified opinion.
Paint for us guys is a challenging part of a restoration. There are those on this forum who have done massive amounts of work on researching the topic.
There is plenty of room for you to be involved.