LUVTruck.com

Last night when I got home I noticed a red glow under the LUV. The catalytic converter was cherry red. Any thoughts on what could have caused this.

The ceramic inside may have fractured increasing the resistance to flow making it easier to build up heat...

If you are running rich, the cat burns off as much excess fuel in the exhaust as it can (generating additional heat...)

What year LUV, and is it old enough to no longer need emissions testing?

If so, pull the cat, retune, and go.

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1978 shortbed fleetside, th350, Fireball 231 Even Fire V6, Edelbrock 500CFM Performer with Edelbrock intake. Workin' Truck.

1976. Still needs by-annual emissions test. Missed it by one year. Hard to find a cat with the heat sensor port.

Try a general tune-up:
points, cap, rotor, plugs, set timing, adjust carb, etc.

It may be that it's not burning efficiently enough, and a basic tune up may clear that up. If that doesn't help, (shh...) gut out the cat and see if it still passes. If it passes with a hollowed out cat in place, then you are good to go. Just be sure to give it a general tune up each time you have to test it.

When it finally fails, track down a replacement cat.

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1978 shortbed fleetside, th350, Fireball 231 Even Fire V6, Edelbrock 500CFM Performer with Edelbrock intake. Workin' Truck.

sometimes if the plug wires are swapped it will do that... its burning alot of fuel getting really hot
Just a thought

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Points, cap, rotor, plugs, timing and carb adjust were just done 1000 miles ago. Daily commute (100 miles) when its my day to drive. Problem started two days ago. Having mechanic rebuild carb.
Thanks for the help.

rebuilding a carb isnt as hard as you would think.
its not worth it to pay to have it done...especially here in callifornia.