2 issues?

[boostaholic]

alright when i go to start the car.. it turns over and over when its cold or been sitting so the engine is not warm.. and it fumbles to a start.. yet if i crank it a few times then stop then recrank fires right up??? ALSO... it has alot of bad backfire.. like fuel is still gettin into the cylnders? or something when your on deaccel sometimes sounds like freakin gun shots??? someone suggested the SMEC for this? its an 89 2.5 t2 intercooled conversion...OOYEAH one last thing i recently notcied when i first start the car the heat guages goes almost all the way up as it starts to get warm... but if you give it a hard rev it comes back down or sometimes you have to shut the car off wait two secs put it back on and it goes down to normal... and i cannot tell if the fan is commin on or not... very odd??? ANY HELP appreciated

Ryan

[TurboSpiritES]

did you check the timing? do you have a a/f meter in the car also?

[boostaholic]

I DO TIMING IS AT 14 DEGRESS ADVANCED.. 3 INCH EXHAUST.. NO CAT STRAIGHT THRU MUFFLER... A/F GUAGE IS READING RICH

[Mike B.]

First, check for any fault codes.
Then, for the starting problem, it might be a bad fuel pressure reg. I would put a gauge on it.
The cooling problem sounds like the classic air in the thermostat housing deal. Take your stat out and drill a 1/16" hole in it and put it back in with the hole on top, like this:
http://hometown.aol.com/desmodrome/stat.html

[MVaughn]

Ryan, I would check the cam timing to crank timing. If that checks out ok I would re-check the timing to make sure that is correct. Make sure all lines like the map sensor line are connected and not broken. When did it start to happen??? Lots of things but I would check these first.