My swap is almost done minus it runs like crap. But I took it for a test drive about 50 miles (mostly freeway). Felt a lot of heat through the floor so I checked the temp when I got home and it was around 860 deg. Is this normal or to hot?

 

Where are you measuring your exhaust? Are you talking exhaust gas temps or your manifolds?

 

have you hooked up a scanner to your rig to check codes?

 

I was measuring the temp at the crossover/y-pipe flange area using a infared thermometer.

No codes yet hopefully I can round up a scanner tonight.

 

This is a concern of mine as well. I'm finally doing my swap. I just got done drilling out the oil dip stick and have been contemplating how to tackle the cross over pipe. my donor is a 2003 so I have the double walled (with some kind of insulation) pipe. I'll have to build mine from scratch, but I was talking to someone who worked closely with ORS and found out that there's alot of issues with the heat and that x-over pipe (wires have been melted, carpets have been on fire).

So beyond the ceramic coating and the header wrap, what are others doing to keep the temps down on their pipe?

 

I had both the x-over & exhaust manifolds ceramic coated and have no heat issues at all. I also have header wrap on the x-over, but the ceramic coating is both inside and outside so I have no real concerns about it getting too hot.

If you are concerned about the heat then you will need to make heat shielding with an air gap between it and the exhaust system.

 

Checking the temps at that spot might not be your best indicator of engine performance. The first thing you want to verify is that after it's warmed up, check the temp of each header tube or manifold 'stem' at about the same distance from your head (about 1" is good to start). Scan up and down the pipe slowly & you'll see why this is important. If you have a dead or lean cylinder, you'll see it right away.

You should see temps in the 480-700 degree range; the number isn't yet important- the actual consistency between cylinders is. Checking temp down the pipe only serves to show you hot spots for that particular running condition.