how hot does the turbo housing really get???
 

I took my car down the street for a test run on the Atkins rebuild. When I got back, there was smoke coming from the turbo area. I thought it might be coolant burning off from an ealier mistake. My parents looked in there as soon as I got back from my run and said something was burning and claimed to have seen something red hot and my dad claimed to have seen a small candle like flame. He got the air compressor and blew on it. He suggested that I take it for another run when it got dark out to see if in fact the turbo was getting red hot. Well, I'll be damned. My dad and I drove down the street about 60 to 70 mph for a while and pulled over to look at the turbo. Glowing red.

All in all, is that normal? Or does my pre-cat have to be clogged to cause this. I need an answer from someone who actually knows. I'm not looking for an "I guess it's supposed to be that hot."

I guess it's supposed to be that hot

hahaha... anyway... you need a laser thermometer. Check the precat inlet and outlet temperatures, on the pipe itself, not on the heatshield. If the inlet temps are more than double the amount of the outlets, then your cats are clogged. Its normal for the cat inlet to be about 200 degrees hotter than the outlet.