Category: Car culture

Happy Holidays

The word kanjo/kanjozoku is now a house hold name. When I first seen what it was in an Option mag around 98/99 I was hooked. When JDM Insider dropped their video in the early 2000’s I was set; this is how Honda Civic’s should be hooked up.

Park Baker did a translation of one of the first articles of Kanjo racing from a 1983 issue of Option, found here.

For those who don’t know, way before Civic’s and other small Group A style cars ran the kanjo, it started off with older Japanese 70′ & 80’s cars and bikes. BOB Racing and Lupan to name a few teams. Late Riser as a bike crew, too.

After that era of new beginnings, newer cars came out to treat Loop 1 as an outlaw playground. The Civic (AH, EF, EG) paved the way for the weapon of choice on Loop 1 (respects to the AE86 & S13 as well). It serves well as a “short range fighter” due to it’s nimbleness and light weight.

Wangan/Cannonballing were more for rwd high horsepower vehicles. Cars of that stature would have a difficult time maneuvering Loop 1 due to it’s tight turns and most of all traffic. A kanjozoku stated that higher power cars would have a difficult time getting up to high speed and full power on the Loop and won’t be able to stop in time when traffic gets thick.

Now that kanjo is a household name, know about it’s beginnings. Many kanjozoku’s started off as bikers and would crowd the Loop, later they would move on to cars and treat the loop as a outlaw road course. Now it’s simply a place for them to have an adrenaline rush. As the article Option posted, the holidays were really a car holiday for them to go out when no one else was on the road. Perhaps you should do the same, a homage to the OG’s. Of course do it in a safe manner, go cruising. Peace.

Related PVT Links:

https://privaterunners.com/2014/03/14/if-youre-not-from-osaka/

https://privaterunners.com/2014/02/23/okrc/

https://privaterunners.com/2013/10/13/kanjo-is-alive-and-well/

Go! With Moon!

Words and pictures by PVT Runner Ian.

A few months prior, I was made aware of an upcoming event that I’ve had on my bucket list to attend. It was an open house day at Mooneyes in Santa Fe Springs. This event happens once a year, usually in July and it’s a small gathering of hot rod fans, as well as a few select Japanese and European classics.

Mid summer in SoCal, you can just about guarantee that it’s going to be a hot day outside but the clear skies made for a great opportunity for those candy paint jobs to shine.

The event took over 3 separate lots around the main store, each with its own set of quality cars to check out. Of course a plethora of big body cruisers made their presence known, laid out on the floor in proper fashion.

I personally am not too well-versed in the details of this era of cars, but how can any gear head not appreciate the level of detail and craftsmanship that goes into these vehicles? Just the shape alone of these sleds, gorgeous!

Another fun part about the event is the attendees themselves, dressed to impress and to represent the culture of hot rodding properly. It’s not just about the cars, it’s a lifestyle. This is a culture, embedding deep into the roots of SoCal style and it’s going nowhere anytime soon.

Though I might not know too much about these cars, it was still a great time. Great vibes, music of course and good company.

Also, to wrap the weekend: a new addition to the family. Many adventures ahead, stay tuned y’all!

How’s your week going?

Hope y’all having a good one. I start a new job on Monday.

Over the weekend I did some well needed maintenance on the daily. Some of the Runners came by to keep me company and throw back some beers.

Wrenching and bullshitting. Even talked about plans for this spring and summer: go fishing more! And from garage talk I relayed some info I found out through some research that’s hard to find even on Honda-Tech about which Brake Master Cylinders come on which cars when it comes to EG chassis’s as well as their proportional valve.

Note: do not use this blog post as a definitive guide for BMC’s and prop valves. I am simply stating my findings. These findings apply to the EG chassis.

The Findings:

The EG6 SiR comes with a 15/16 BMC. All other EG’s model comes with the 13/16 BMC like my VX seen here:

The only Civic in the USA that came with a 15/16 BMC is the EF EX sedan and Si. A lot of people swap over the 15/16 from the EF to their EG to have more brake pressure. The folks who upgraded to a rear disk on their EG’s opt for this swap as well, while others leave the 13/16 BMC on; it works. Especially if they can’t source the 1″ ITR BMC. From a source who has access to EG6 SiR’s and other model EG’s in their country (i.e., VTi) he stated that the EG’s that have the 15/16 BMC’s have a 30/40 proportional valve. Only the top model EG2 came with a 40/40 proportional valve along with some EK’s. So there you have it. Vital information.

My set up is DC2 GSR rear discs, 13/16 BMC (Stock USA EG BMC) with a 30/40 prop valve. I used to run a 40/40 with no problems, but it started leaking so I replaced it with a new 30/40. I felt no difference when I did go from 30/40 to 40/40 and back to 30/40. So in conclusion if you have a set up like mine, the 15/16 BMC it’s ok to use with a 30/40 proportional valve.

Theory:

There are other factors that come into play such as if you upgrade to bigger front discs/calipers etc., that you will have to research. Especially the 1″ BMC. Many would match it with a 40/40 proportional valve. I have no experience with that set up, perhaps you can still use the 30/40 if you only upgraded the rear to a DC2 rear calipers/disc setup and leave the fronts stock on a EG chassis. The difference from the 1″ to 15/16 is a 1/16 difference, so I don’t know if there will be any slop or gain. But if the 15/16 already increases pressure, I would assume the 1″ will also increase pressure as well. Non-ITR DC2 non abs has a 40/40 prop valve with a 15/16 BMC. If you upgrade the front calipers on the EG to a DC caliper, you need to match it with a 40/40 prop valve because the calipers are bigger.

Final Thoughts:

If myself and my source is wrong or if someone would like to add any other info please chime in because I would like to know as well, I am always a student. Many people have felt a significant difference when adding the 15/16 BMC to their EG. Since the 15/16 BMC & 30/40 prop valve come in that set up on the EG6 SiR, you know it works. Once you start upgrading to bigger discs and calipers, that’s when research comes in. I.e., 40/40 prop valve, ITR 1″ BMC.

Thank you to my buddy in France who sent me this BMC, you know who you are 😊 I plan to install the 15/16 BMC onto my EG some time this year, probably once the weather warms up.

Merci.