Just installed SOS HIDs...have some pics...

[RL in Florida]

Hi everyone.
I ordered the SOS/Mcculloch HID kit from Chris, and installed it earlier today. The install was not too tough, but definitely took more than an hour. (Although, to be honest, the first side was the most time consuming.) The biggest pain in the butt was making sure the flip-up headlights did not clip any wires on flip-up or flip-down.
Its a very complete kit, right down to lots of wire-ties and rubber gloves to handle the HID lights.
I ended up bolting the igniter to the headlight frame, and velcro-ing the ballast to the plastic in front of the lights.
I am really really impressed with these lights. Its a nice clean white-blue light and goes through a cool warmup where it starts off purply-indigo and gets brighter until it reaches full intensity.
I have not taken it out on the highway yet, but I will be doing that tomorrow.
I am going to try to post pics in the "replies" below. If they dont work, I will try to fix them tomorrow once I figure out this UBB code thing.
Hmmm. If I videotape the warmup sequence on miniDV, maybe I can render it into MPG and post a link to that as well...
Rick.
Florida

 

[RL in Florida]

The HID is installed on the driver side only, so that you can see the difference in color. The digital camera was set on a fixed white balance ('sunlight') so the pictures are more consistent. This would mean that everything "white" in the photo is close to full afternoon sunlight.

 

[RL in Florida]

This is from lower down, almost looking straight into the headlights. Although the pictures dont show it, the intensity of the HID is much much higher. I think I got a radiation burn just taking these pictures.

 

[RL in Florida]

Here is a comparison shot with the headlights about five feet from an off-white concrete wall. As you can see, the HID is burning a hole through the wall. (Does anyone remember the movie Real Genius, when they turn the laser on, and it cuts through the entire campus?)
The colors that came out in the pic are very very close to the actual colors you would see in person.

 

[RL in Florida]

This is with the headlights 8-10 feet from the wall. They look like they are aimed too high, but thats because the back end of the car is on a downslope from the front.

 

[RL in Florida]

Anyway, those are the pics I thought I would share with you. I have a bunch more pertaining to the actual install, but Chris already has these in the manual he provides.
The wiring for the 2001 NSX is slightly different than the one indicated in the diagram, but nothing that was too significant.
One odd thing I noticed was that the actual HID bulb is tinted blue. Its like a layer of baked-on blue glaze. I wonder if the blue-glaze alters the color temperature all that much. It would seem that it would decrease the intensity somewhat as well.
Its late.
I will post an update tomorrow after taking the car out on a drive on a dark highway.

 

[BostonNSX]

hey nice..
btw how come both your head lights can align together ? mine cant.. the passenger side is a bit higher ...

 

[RL in Florida]

Originally posted by BostonNSX:
hey nice..
btw how come both your head lights can align together ? mine cant.. the passenger side is a bit higher ...

I am not sure. Its a 2001, so maybe the factory alignment is different. (??)
I think that the driver side lights are supposed to be pointed lower for US specs, though. Maybe mine are misaligned...

 

[s2ktaxi]

Originally posted by BostonNSX:
hey nice..
btw how come both your head lights can align together ? mine cant.. the passenger side is a bit higher ...

Unless your right headlamp was incorrectly adjusted, I don't think the passenger side is actually higher. At a further distance out, the beam patterns will converge and give you a right side that is higher to illuminate road signs etc. You'll see that each of the headlamps has a beam pattern that on it's own is higher on the right side. But both headlamps should be aimed at the same level.

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

Wow! Awesome kit, and awesome pictures RL in FL!