Hot engine bay

[brian/heather]

need some advice guys. had my charger out last night for the first time this year. after a good long run, i opened the hood and it was extremely hot in the engine bay. the valve covers were so hot you couldn't touch them. i have an after market temp gauge and it never went over 180. the motor is a 440. this winter i took the headers off and went back to cast iron manifolds. i also told off the cast iron intake and replaced with an aluminum one. i don't believe the engine bay is getting hot due to coolant issues but is it possible for the exhaust manifolds to make it that hot under the hood? i also run my MSD box mounted on the fire wall and you can barely touch it with your hand. does anyone know how much heat they can take before they break down? thanks for the help Brian

[resq302]

Is it possible that you are running lean causing it to have higher exhaust temps?

[brian/heather]

thank for the tip i will check that out.

[Chryco Psycho]

timing will also cause extra heat , you need to flow air through the engine compartment , the only escape for the air is under the car .
Having a hand held infrared thermometer could help as well .