OK, I wrote "about '91" about the tailgates. I've seen bad ones on cars as late as '88, and I haven't seen any bad ones (barring damage) from '91, so obviously somewhere in between they got it sorted out. From what I've seen the rustproofing and painting process really improved from '87 or 88.

Between a late 740 or an early 940 I would probably choose the 940, I think as a series it's slightly better put together. Dash cracks really depend on climate, even on early 740's a cracked dash is a rarity here in .nl. Heck, even 240 dashes stand up rather well. I'm parting out a couple of 240s ('85 and '86), both with what after a quick glance seems to be a perfect dash. Only reason we removed it was to have an easier time getting to the parts behind the dash, we'll probably throw'em in the trash after we've picked them clean. Bulky items for which there's little or no demand. Should I ever need one I can go to any scrapyard and get them a dime a dozen. Too expensive to ship to the US I'm afraid, although if someone wants them they're available for the cost of shipping plus a little for the packaging. You supply the fedex/ups/... account.

On the matter of turbos: While they may not be as frightfully expensive to fix anymore, they're still an additional part than can break, and that just isn't there on a NA car. You save a little on fuel consumption as well. Poster wrote he was on a very limited budget, so do away with such unneccesary risks for expenses. It's not like a NA B230F is all that slow anyway.

Bram