That CV thing sounds pretty serious. What do you do if you find a cracked boot? Are they replacable or once a crack, can't look back kind of thing? Never been around an aluminum block, well not mine anyway, but the plenum situtation is the same concept, the plenum is two parts while the intake is aluminum the bottom portion is steel or cast iron, and the heat affects the two differently so the gaskets go out fairly consistently. There is a kit that corrects that problem though, so it's really not a big thing anymore.

The window sounds like an engineering failure, but all companies have them. Has anyone adapted a stronger arm to the window?

I had a 1975 Nova that I had to use one of the female ends of an electrical connecter to hold in a part of the door handle, because I replaced them with new chrome pieces and the prior clips to hold the door opening arm to the handle had rusted through and broken.