Redifining JDM

Just a little copy paste job from some online reading I've been doing. Dudes right on the money with pretty much everything he says.


"REDEFINING JDM: A LOOK TO THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE."

The Real JDM is a monthly column written by Ben Schaffer of Bespoke Ventures. Bespoke Ventures operates a number of JDM related businesses including: Bulletproof Automotive, Top Secret III, Ings+1 USA, VARIS USA, HyperRev USA and Bespoke VIP. Visit www.bespokeventures.com for more information.

"The meaning of the acronym JDM over the past decade has evolved and morphed. Although 10 years ago it was relatively uncommon to hear people using the acronym JDM, today JDM has become a word on its own. A word commonly used by car enthusiasts, found on magazine covers, used within the names of hundreds of registered business corporations and also comprising the title and focus of this column. While Japanese tuning parts are fascinating to discuss monthly, this month we’ll reflect on what JDM means on a more universal level.

Technically JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market. It has been used for many decades as a label for goods sold specifically to Japanese based residents within the country of Japan. Its origin has truly nothing to do with the automotive aftermarket, and applies to any and all items that could be sold. A little more than a decade ago, JDM started being mentioned more in conversation amongst aftermarket enthusiasts. What started as an acronym to describe Japanese market parts, gradually became something that was more comfortable and commonly used to describe a wider range of things. First it was used to describe cars like a JDM right-hand drive Civic. Then it was used to describe OEM tuning parts like one-piece JDM Prelude headlights. Later it was used to describe aftermarket parts like JDM RE Amemiya GT wings. After that it was used to describe aftermarket parts officially sold in America like Toda camshafts. Then it jumped to the next level, JDM became a basis for a style, no longer limited to items sold only within Japan. For example, paint colors like hot pink, wheel colors like matte black, reverse vinyl graphics, and other related styles all became labeled as JDM, regardless of where they were built or sold.
What we find today is no longer the acronym JDM but the evolved word JDM. The reason is simply because the definition of Japanese Domestic Market has not kept up with the use and common meaning of the scene today. JDM as a word encompasses and defines something far more massive than it was originally intended. As this reality relates to enthusiasts, I often find people arguing over the definition of the word JDM. For example, are GReddy parts JDM anymore? They are sold officially in America so technically no if using the original definition. In some cases Japanese branded parts are not made in Japan, but are sold only in Japan, is that JDM? By definition yes, but some would argue not. Is a color JDM? By old standards no but by new standards yes, it can be.

In short, there is no right or wrong answer for what is JDM. It will mean different things to different people. In a sense, it means the same thing as “cool” except with a cultural twist to it. Nobody can define cool, as it relates to Japanese car tuning culture, it is simply always up for debate.

I have a personal connection with the word JDM, as an enthusiast, entrepreneur and a col¬umnist. I’d like to share with you, my suggested redefinition of JDM as I believe it to be. This redefinition of JDM serves as a backbone for what The Real JDM stands for, what I stand for and it is ultimately my motivation and passion behind virtually everything that I do.

THE REDEFINITION OF JDM
JDM is a mentality, an attitude, a culture, a desire, and a philosophy:

JDM IS INNOVATION.
Through a no expense spared, no shortcuts taken mentality, Japanese manufacturers consistently innovate with new performance and style, often trickled down from JGTC technology and applied to street cars. Over the past decade, countless new trends and successful applications have been created and popularized by JDM innovation. This is thanks in part to two factors, one is the Japanese culture’s famous attention to quality and detail. The second factor is that Japan’s market is perfect for high-end products because the cost of car ownership is prohibitively expensive and as a result the average car owner is more accepting of paying top dollar for tuning parts.

JDM IS AN ATTITUDE.
I and certainly many other JDM enthusiasts have a tendency to be early adopters. What this means is that we scour the world for underground activities, lifestyles and products that are refreshing, unique, exciting and that we relate to. Everything from skateboarding, hiphop and of course JDM starts from the underground and works its way up. JDM is lead by those who look for the next exciting thing, apply it to their lives and set the trends for the world. It is not uncommon for those into JDM tuning to also be into underground fashion like A Bathing Ape, underground music like mashup remix projects of DJ Danger Mouse/Jay-Z, and underground collectables like Kubrick vinyl figurines.
JDM IS A CULTURE.
Much like how rap has started as a music and grown into a lifestyle and culture, JDM has also. Ten years ago it was unlikely for a white emcee to get on stage and freestyle and it was also unlikely for white enthusiasts to represent JDM tuning in hotspots like the Los Angeles scene. Hiphop started out as nearly all black and JDM started out as nearly all Asian, yet both have evolved into cultures that are accepting of people of all backgrounds, so long as they properly rep¬resent the culture to the fullest. JDM parts are our producer/DJ, enthusiasts are our MCs, drifters are our B-Boys, and vinyl graphics are our graffiti. Ultimately just like any culture, there is a glue that binds and JDM enthusiasts can relate to each other regardless of their language and background. A drift car ripping up the perfect line sideways means “dope” in any language, nothing else need be said.

JDM IS A DESIRE.
JDM is pursuit of the ultimate car using the latest in innovation, technology, style, craftsmanship and exotic materials. Any enthusiast true to themselves will understand and accept that no project is ever truly finished and perfect. There is a shared struggle and desire that can’t be quenched or overcome and it’s result is the continued push of innovation from both the project cars that enthusiasts develop and the new products that they inspire and create.

JDM IS PHILOSOPHY.
JDM encompasses all of the above beliefs and also carries with it some of the culture that Japan has embedded into minds of JDM fans. In Japan there is a rivalry between drivers, teams, shops and enthusiasts but in the end everyone is friends sharing in the same joy and there’s no violence or long term bad blood. Also biting styles is strongly discouraged, everyone is pulling themselves up by innovation, work and skill, not by stealing the formula of their competition. There is a strong sense of respect, honor and responsibility with an understanding that a culture is a tight knit community which has the ability to grow and improve or be destroyed depend¬ing on the attitude and action of its members.

I’ll wrap this up saying that JDM is not a trend or fad like some tend to say. As long as there is innovation and style in our scene, there will be always be JDM. Although JDM carries the word Japan within its meaning, the future of JDM is not dependant solely on Japanese manufacturing. It is true that for the past decade and still continuing to this day Japan is leading the new development and design of ground breaking products. Yet the staples of the JDM scene do not hinge on Japan as a manufacturing location. It is already true and it will continue to be that products representing JDM interests can be originated and produced by anyone from any country. For example, Top Secret who is considered JDM uses on all of their cars: sus¬pension made in Holland, fuel cells made in America, and steering wheels and brakes both made in Italy. The day may come when Japan is no longer the top innovator within the scene, and when that day comes the word JDM may need a refreshed identity. Regardless of what we call it, the underlying beliefs that hold the evolving JDM culture together today will never disappear.”

Christmas time has come....

Alright....so, its cold outside, my windshield is cracked, and a piece of my exhausts heatshield is dragging around under my car as I drive. Oh, and I got stuck in a ditch yesterday because of the snow/black ice under it.

Wisconsin sucks.

Good news, I graduated, I got a resume together, and I found some more stuff online for Project Legend.

Most notably on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, I found some front door panels with the optional tweeters/speakers located near the handles...



Tight right?

So thats it for now.

More blogs/pics/blogs with pics coming soon.

Now lets open some presents!

Phoenix=ICB Motorsports

Last Thursday, I left the single digit degree weather of my home state, Wisconsin, for the warm climate of Arizona. Phoenix to be specific. I did so for a variety of reasons; mostly to see if I could handle living down in the South West. I'm liking what I'm seeing, and despite some unusually rainy weather down here; it's looking promising.

While I've been down here, I took advantage of stopping by the area JDM importer. ICB Motorsports to be specific. I've been frequenting there website (jdmland.com) for a good couple of years now and although they don't have much for my chassis (who does right?) I was able to pick up a few small pieces of my project legend puzzle.

I got a new Spoon 1.35 radiator cap....



and some PIAA H3 Foglight bulbs for my JDM one piece headlights...



I was also able to talk to Matt about getting stuff for my car and pretty much got shut down. Its not really worth his time and energy to seek out stuff for the KA7 chassis when theres so much demand for Civics, Integra's, and S2000's.

Oh well. I got my man Jay in Japan keeping an eye out for some stuff and hopefully, he'll be be able to come across some stuff.

In the meantime....there's always eBay.

Shop victoriously, kid.

Beep Beep N' Beep Beep, Yeah

So I was searching jdmtheory.com today and came across a horn button for my MOMO steering wheel.




To replace the one that came with it......



Personally, when I bought the steering wheel, I liked that it was MOMO but was stuck on the fact that it wasn't the Mugen one that I REALLY wanted. For as we all know...Mugen is Honda Specfic. This new horn button kind of makes up for it though because of the Gold "Honda" inscribed on it.


$55 dolla's though.....Lets see....if I sell a couple more items on eBay its on...
Also, there maybe fitment issues....

More on this later.

Giving Thanks.....a Holiday if you will.

Yeah, I know, its not Turkey-Day yet, but while I'm posting, I'd just like to give thanks anyways.

So in now particular order, here it is. Thanks. If your reading this blog and it has influenced you in any way positively; thanks. To all the other Legend owners out there.....thanks. Thanks for inspiring me, teaching me, and in some cases, showing me what NOT to do when it comes to building a car. Thank you.

Thanks goes out to Shaun Falkner, the close friend of mine who worked ever so hard on my cars aging/rusting body and got it to where it is now. (see prior post)

Thanks Shaun. You've helped make some major power-moves and helped me so very much and on so many levels.

Thanks to my brothers, who don't get too angry with me when I go about purchasing items (usually Japanese) for my car when I owe them money and should probably have spent it paying them back.

Thanks to my parent's too for that! Especially over the years. Thanks to my Automotive Technician Instructors who have let me use the schools facilities to work on and improve my car as well as expand my knowledge in the automotive world itself.

Thanks to Collin Leavitt for inspiring me to finish my goals and work hard at and on what your passionate about. Also, for showing me and alot of other people what a four door sedan is capable of.

Thanks to eBay and the acura-legend.com forums and especially an eBay seller by the name of JDMISME who I get a lot of my stuff from and who is very helpful and informative in his listings. Honest sellers are few and far between these days.

Finally, thanks to Honda Tuning for putting out a quality magazine almost every month dedicated to (usually) quality, well built, original, Honda's.

Ok, i'm gonna get off my soap box now. Sorry if I forgot anyone. Project Legend continues......

Happy Thanksgiving.

Let Me Explain This.......Thoroughly

Project Legend continues with new additions to my/its arsenal. But before I mention them, let me first explain some differences and similarities between my (now two) project builds.

As mentioned before in my previous blog’s beginning, my introduction to the KA7 Legend sedan began many years ago with my initial purchase of my 3rd owned car and first Legend; a 1993 Sherwood Green “Type L” 4dr sedan. As the months and years increased during my possession of the vehicle, so did my affinity towards it. Not only did I search for parts and other modifications for my sedan, but also longed to know more about in general.

In doing so, I learned that in the U.S., between the years of 1994 and 1995, Acura released in limited quantities complete with the updated “Type II” engine making 30 more horsepower than the original C32A1. This was, to say the least, the car for me. Smooth, powerful, luxurious, fun to drive, and most importantly; a Honda. Upon further research, I also found that this particular combination came in a Black on Black package. Black leather interior, with black plastic trim, black carpet, and Honda’s very own “Grenada Black Pearl” paint for the exterior! Visions of my driving the car around, slamming it into gear, and revving the 230+ horsepower engine danced around in my head endlessly to say the least.

As my resolve grew for attaining my interpretation of the vehicular holy grail of my dreams, so did my fascination with my Sherwood Green Type L diminish. It had been in an accident before I bought it and whoever had fixed it, didn’t do a good job of it. The left (driver’s side) A frame was already rusting due to misuse of a caulk near and under the trim above the windshield. The left splash guard was torn in half, exposing to lower part of the engine via the wheel well. The driver side window regulator was broken, and the cars body itself was beginning to rust profusely on and around the rear wheel fenders.

All of that plus so much more….just didn’t seem worth my time to fix. I mean after all, why sink so much money into a dilapidated type L, when the GS 6-speed was what I could be investing in? I could always just sell the type L or give it to one of my siblings. With that as my mindset, I began to accumulate my numerous JDM parts and additions to what would eventually be the culmination of my dream car. I operated under the assumption that once school was paid off; then I would buy the GS and implement my JDM component arsenal.

Then reality set in. Early this year at just under 200,000 miles on the odometer, my car fell victim to the infamous BHG (blown head gasket) that is the bane of the cars C32A engines’ existence. Head work was more expensive than a new engine altogether, so I bought an imported low mileage Type I engine from Japan and had a trusted auto tech put it in for around $1,600.00 altogether. A significant chunk of change to say the least. As well as a monetary investment into the future of my daily driver.

Even before the head gasket went, the rust from the accumulated exposure to the body via the top of the A frame and towards the top of the windshield had allowed outside elements to begin to seep into the interior of the car itself. Basically, when it rained, I got the car washed, or it snowed; I got wet. A minor inconvenience, yes, but throughout the years, it had gotten progressively worse to the point that I would dread driving it in any poor weather condition. I had taken the car to body shops to have this problem remedied previously, and they had all quoted me astronomical prices to fix it because of the mere fact that they would have to take out the windshield to even get at the rust. Then, as luck would have it, during a talk with a close friend of mine who just happened to be in his second year of a two year collision repair/auto body program at the local tech school, we began to talk about him fixing it. He talked to his instructor and got the o.k. to fix the rust around the A-frame. Stoked as I was, I also wanted the rust fixed around the wheel wells. Well this friend of mine, being the great friend that he is, fang-dangled it somehow with his instructor and went ahead and did that too….along with even MORE body work! All in all, he and his team completed upward of three thousand dollars on my rusty dilapidated old 1993 Legend type L for cost (about $700).

During the body work, they noticed that the lower brackets of my USDM headlights were broken as a result of my ramming into a deer a couple of years back and told me that they needed replacement. I took this news as an opportunity to go ahead and order up a set of JDM one piece headlights as well as an OEM fog light switch so as to not have to wire up my fog lights to my headlights (more on that in another post) as well as have him install my JDM Alpha Touring “H” badged grill after painting the trim to match.


Well, I got the car back a couple weeks ago and there is no rust by the wheel wells…


….or by the A frame….


….and my front end is now a Honda.


Great right? Well kind of. What about the rest of my JDM goodies? Should I install them on my daily driver? What about Project Legend? Has my Project Daily Driver become my Project Legend?

At this point…I don’t really know. I’m still set on a 94-95 Blk on Blk 6-speed KA7. It is still what I imagine the end result of what Project Legend will be. For now though. I have to deal with what I have and go from there. Conscious of the present, looking towards the future, while having learned from the past.

Project Legend is a journey.

Slackin' on my bloggin'? Turn it up!

Dang...

Been pretty busy, but I'm done with school now, so theres gonna be more blogs posted definitely sooner than later. I've been soo busy with my daily driver (henceforth dubbed "Project Daily Driver") that I haven't been able to totally focus on Project Legend.

More on that later.

This is now.....

I was watching these on eBay....


But didn't win them.

So I just won these...



But don't exactly have the funds to pay for them....

Crap. More on this on my next blog.
THE PROJECT CONTINUES!