And so, as the great guru of your IS organization , here's the mantra you should repeat to yourself, and that you should encourage everyone in your cult...uh, department...repeat to themselves as a calming transition to an alpha state:

  "I'm paid to have headaches. I'm paid to have headaches. I'm paid to..."
      - Bob Lewis

I think you're fighting the battle wrongly. Great inertia accumulates to things that work. Arguments for change may have sound technical merit, but I think many will agree that technical correctness rarely carries much weight in an organic(human) environment. Your only true weapon for change in a business setting is the immutable cost/benefit ratio.

I know time-tracking is a nuissance to most, but how about keeping a log of your efforts. Note the actions you take that are a direct result of the offending sections that are not "reasonable, fluid, and upgradeable code." Compare that with the effort needed to keep the upgrades flowing. I think your results will vary from project to project.

For what its worth, I agree with you. Yet somehow I am still maintaining some dusty SCO OpenServer boxen:-)