Timing chain issues are not just limited to high performance engines. In the 60s, someone got the brilliant idea to coat timing gear teeth with nylon to make them quieter and reduce wear (GM was big on this). Unfortunately, nylon teeth would eventually fail and lead to a couple of problems. One was the timing going out of whack as you might expect. The other was the nylon teeth clogging up the oil pump which would lead to low oil pressure.
Unless you do some serious work to an X1/9 it'll never do that, not without reworking everything, these are only 0 - 60mph is 11.5 second cars, even a classic Alfa GTV6 with a 2.5 litre V6 will only do 0-60 in 8.5 seconds. The perform upgrade you'd need to do to an X1/9 would be extensive, brakes, suspension, cooling, wheels, tyres, probably body work to flare arches to accommodate wider rubber. There was always the argument that the X1/9 chassis could handle more power, but everything else would need to be upspec'd.
Not sure if I got it right, but Alfa Brera are quite unobtainable here in. USA? I have been eyeing the Brera for a long time, truly admire old maestro’s last design,
You sort of missed the point here completely, I have an X1/9, it's my 3rd X1/9 with the 2nd one still in the garage as a donor car, as it is the same year/colour..well identical twin of my current X1/9, and I love them. But they do have all the faults I listed, my 1980 X1/9's reverse gear did crap out at 75,000 miles, X1/9's gearboxes are well documented as rubbish, especially 2nd and reverse, don't know how many electrical faults I've had to fix, all have or had overheating issues, from 16,000 miles to 80,000 miles, 2 have had starter motor issues, two blown head gaskets, let alone the rust I've had to deal with, an anemic heater, no air-con, wipers that are for aesthetics only, and struggle with anything more than drizzle, a driving position for midgets, BUT I'll still have one any day over a bland Miata or MR2 or even a BMW Z anything, apart from the Z8. It's just a frank opinion of the X1/9 to someone contemplating one. The X1/9 is fun to drive, steers preciously, and is light footed, but the brakes are unassisted and quite different to anything slightly modern, why I would be very nervous about significantly upping he power without addressing the suspension and brakes.
Wasn't sure how obtainable they were in the US, they're not overly attainable here either, and you need to be patient and wait for one to come up, but anything Alfa always hangs around for a while, because it's an Alfa. Currently also buzzing around in a 2009 Alfa 147 Blackline, and it's hard not to put your foot down as it tears around like a go-cart, reminiscent of my old 1990 33 Boxer Cloverleaf.
Not quite.
I'm still with DJ on this, the X1/9 is a fantastic, quirky, ingenious, stylish, very Italian little classic than ran for close to 20 years unchanged, other than some bumper extensions and other cosmetic changes. But is it what it is, and accepting that will put a smile on your face. Wanting it to be something it isn't may very well lead to disappointment. There are many that have tinkered with their X1/9's, but I believe the motivation is different, a project, the joy of adapting and building something of their own, and the reward of success. Unless that is your profession or hobby, it is a very expensive pursuit to have done professionally for which you can almost guarantee no return on investment.
There's a fair amount of adjustment by adding washers underneath the two nuts (down) or two bolts (up)that hold the column to the underside of the dash. Just be sure to keep the breakaway washers under the two bolts - they're what keep the column out of your chest in a collision.
I'm talking about one using proper technology. With the increasing number of EV's on the scene, there's going to be an increased number of totaled ones. Maybe just ripping the guts out of a wreaked Nissan Leaf, which will do around 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. Even when entry level Tesla's start ending up wrapped around trees, or VW's Golf EV's end up in ditches. The technology is increasing at a rate of knots in both performance and range, with an ever decreasing cost.