1973 caprice classic conv

I have a 1973 caprice classic conv in storage. I'm looking to restore it. I have rust in the trunk and on the right front floor. thetop needs replacing. the engine is in good condition how ever I want to replace the heads, it a 400 engine and I heard the 400 engine heads are bad. I want to replace the suspension too.any sugestions

If possible, some pictures would help out a little... if you can't get them on a server, send them to me, and I'll post em for you. Heres my email: [email protected]

I'm not an expert, but this is what I've read about the 400-cid small-block.

"The 400 was made possible by removing some water passages and joining the cylinder walls together. This increased the strength of the thin wall castings, but it also caused an entirely new set of problems...The 400-cid small-block is far more than just a bored and stroked 350. it is an entirely different engine that frankly does not share the reliability and durability of the legendary, post-1968 small-blocks."

"Heads from the 400-cid engines cracked at a higher rate than other Chevrolet small-blocks. This is because the 400-cid engine runs hotter as a result of both the "siamese" cylinders and the longest stroke of any bowtie small-block. Cracks usually occur on the exhaust seat in the combustion chamber of the head."

"...The 400 also cracks between the steam holes on the deck surface."

These are from Edwin J. Sanow's Chevrolet Police Cars.

Okay, heres the pictures that u sent me... the 3rd one may not work for a little while, but I'll get it uploaded as soon as the server gets up and running again.
http://www.freewebs.com/petea/73caprice01.JPG
http://www.freewebs.com/petea/73caprice02.JPG
http://www.freewebs.com/petea/73caprice03.JPG

I'va had a few of these back in the day when you could pick them up for a couple of hundred bucks. Ya, the 400 was nasty on fuel. Never had a problem with the engine fatiguing. One a switched over to a 454, but the other I kept the SBC 400, but I changed the ignition to HEI, added a shift kit, crower cam, aluminum intake, headers and the mileage went from 10mpg to 20mpg + the car would spin the tires shifting from first to second. All of this with highway gears and 100k miles on the engine which wasn't rebuilt.

Regards,

Tom

I think the 400's get a bad rap by some people. I have one that hardly ever reaches 190 on the water temp gauge. I think people have issues when they swap heads or put new head gaskets on that don't have the extra steam holes that the 400 needs. I would say if there are no problems, leave the heads as is.