J,
Can I assume (careful now) this wonder car has been jacked up for a while and you are the unfortunate recipient mechanic to get it fixed? "NEVER RUNS NORMAL" is a tough start.
Is the mother board a deep green or greyish in color? I ask because you said it's "an old 1230".
Remember, when placing jumpers on the personality board, they number from right to left, 0 through 7. If you're still stumped, PM me the job specifics and I'll check for jumper locations based on your information (unless you already have this info.). Has anyone supplied you with the PCD Display screen pages showing the different I/O's and their locations as well as fault/ warning info?