"Glowing" manifolds....

[Horst]

My brother-in-law and I took his Clipper in last night to get it smogged and get some service work done. He had the doghouse off for the short drive.
We drove about 10 miles, in the early evening (it was not hot out) and pulled no major grades (we drove from Santa Cruz to Scotts Valley).

Both his exhaust manifolds turned cherry red and were glowing hot.

Should they get this hot after such a short drive?? If not, what are the possible culprits?
Sticky thermostat?
Thanks

His temp gauge read a steady 190 degrees.

[Horst]

Forgot to add he has a 77 440, stock.

[handyman]

Thats what they look like at night theres a lot of fire going through those babys you ott to see air craft engines oh baby you can fry up you dinner  

[mollerus]

To add to Jim's statement about dinner an old Model A trick of the 30'as was to place stew contents in foil on the exhaust manifold and after about an hours drive it was cooked and you had a hot lunch! These were low compression engines and ran cooler than modern engines.  Glowing red exhaust manifolds on high compression engines under a load and higher rpms is the norm.  That is why we have heat shields between them and the dog house seal.  If the shields are left off during an exhaust gasket replacement (and some have been) it's a sure cause for a hot foot area in the cab.  Bob

[Shayne]

If these guys say it's normal for this motor, then I'm not going to argue.... BUT... When we see glowing manifolds at the racetrack, it's time for bigger jets in the carb because it's running a little lean.

[Tyler Hoodenpyle]

Shayne is right about air/fuel mixture, sure fire check is an air/fuel ratio guage and oxygen sensor in exhaust pipe.  Also, make sure ignition timing is not retarded.