Exhaust manifold question

I got my 88" series 3 project up and running this summer. When I purchased project it had a tubular aftermarket exhaust manifold on it. I bought a new cast one like factory from our hosts here. Ive noticed its bluing like and old honda bike might. Certainly dont care about the color change...overheating is my concern as sometimes this is an indication of running too hot. Motor is a turner 8:1 with about 7k put on it from previous owner. Everything is new on it and runs great..thought ive only put about 35 miles on it this summer. Never seems overly hot after a drive, factory gauge it gets right above the white...pulled plugs they looked great. No running issues...if the bluing is normal then no worries or should I dig further?

Most manifolds I have seen are rusty, so I am bit in the dark!. If the temper colors on Iron are similar to steel , its only getting up to about 550F ( 290C) which is not really very hot compared the exhaust gas temperatures. If all the other indications are that the engine is not running hot, I wouldn't worry. Is the rest of the exhaust system standard as if not that could affect the manifold temperature?

Thx for the input roverp....im running a factory/oem style full exhaust kit purchased from our sponsors. I have a smiths dual water temp/ oil press gauge...Im only running the oil press right now...need an adapter for water temp sender. I know the factory gauges arent exactly out of an F16...but it seems to work but as said its never been noticeably too hot..actually seems to run really cool. That said, thanks again..always appreciate the help and input on this forum.

I've seen my own manifold get pink-hot [viewed at night] and it ran perfectly well.....didn't crack the manifold [immediately] but that will happen over time. I always recommend that rover drivers cool down their rigs slowly and not shut the engine off immediately after a hot run.

I have seen them running red hot on test beds at work, but that is usually working them extremally hard to see what might fail!

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Originally Posted by roverp480

I have seen them running red hot on test beds at work, but that is usually working them extremally hard to see what might fail!

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Running hot may cause overheating, try getting a thermal thermometer pistol grip thinggy, and checking temp during and after operation,,,,,