Not to keep adding to the "Oprah" lovefest, but most of those issues have been resolved. Your april engine I believe had the 1st gen carb with the idle needle on the bottom when the carb is oriented the "right" way. The current gen carb has the idle needle on top for easier adjustment. One of the guys at my track has the first gen carb and the plastic sleeve on the carb would come off until he JB welded it. My 1st 5 port bought in june with the new carb has no sleeve issues and no air leaks. Heck my nova 21bf and my C6BB7T developed leaky fron bearings around the 3-4 gallon mark and my oldest 5 port's front bearing seal is still holding well. I agree with you on the outside finish of the engine however. I have nova/rb engines (C6BB7T) also and if you put them side by side, the RB/Nova's have a more "expensive" look/feel. Also Rocket now includes extra head shims with the motors for easier tuning when running 30% fuel. None of my rb's/nova's came with extra shims BTW. As in all motors shimmed for 20-25% you can run them without extra shims on 30%, but adding a shim makes them easier to tune when running near sea level with higher barometric pressure.