347 stroker glowing headers!!!! need help....

ok guys, I have a 91 mustang GT that I just built a 347 stroker motor for. I dropped it in and started it for the first time and the headers were glowing cherry red. turned it off and waited a little bit and started it again and it did not do it anymore. I had it running for most of the day saturday and then sunday came and i started it up and now they are glowing again but now it is individual primaries on the headers. A CJ Pony guy told me to advance the timing up from 12 that i had it at, to 18 and see what it did. I did that and less primaries lit up so i advanced it to 22 degrees and two still lit up, so i dropped it back down and gave up on timing. My combination is: 347 stroker, probe pistons, AFR 185 heads, 11:1 comression, comp cams 282XE camshaft 574/565 lift, edelbrock performer RPM 2 intake, 30lb injectors, 255lph fuel pump with adjustable regulator set to 45lb.
Engine itself runs cool just the primaries are lighting up. Idles very steady at 850-900 rpms. The wierd thing is that the plugs when i pull them out everyone of them are black as night and the back 2 on both sides are wet with fuel. I am just curious if it is the computer that is making it do this because of the size of the cam or what but i am lost here. I need help bad I want to drive this thing.
If anyone can help me out it would be GREAT!!! thanks guys. by the way it also does not want to start after they glow, i guess maybe it is loading up.  

I have had the similar problem on a project of my own. A few questions, assuming you have mass air, is the meter calibrated to the injectors? On my project, the engine was running so rich that the fuel/air mixture was burning in the exhaust. The engine never ran above 180 degrees, plugs were dead black. I backed my fuel psi down in increments to a total of 34 psi. Also adjusting timing at each 2psi increment. On another project that I had, due to the engine swap, a small amount of glycol had seeped through the intake tract system and burned out the O2 sensor and gave me similar problems. Don't know if any of that helps, Good luck.  

Yeah i do have mass air and the meter is calibrated , I beleive that is what it is doing is just dumping loads of fuel into the cylinders and its burning in the exhaust. I finally got in touch with comp cams today and they said to get the thing tuned and that will help but i am just not sure. I really dont want to tow it all the way out to a tuning shop you know. Maybe the cam is just way to much for the stock tune.  

Have you had the computer tuned or is that still on the stock tune?

It does sound like a timing issue but the tune needs to be right before you can go further. Since this is a brand new motor, please be careful. If it is running too rich during break in, it can be bad for the motor (rings)

Most aftermarket 'calibrated' MAFs are very far off, I would find your closest, best tuner and get a chip on that thing ASAP. The tow ride costs MUCH less then going back through your brand new motor, trust me.

Let us know what you find out!  

ok guys i figured out that the spark plugs i was using were the short thread spark plugs and the ones my AFRs call for are the long thread. So i stuck those plugs in and now the only ones glowing are numbers 3 and 7. You can pretty much only see this when the lights are off so they are not glowing anywhere near as bright as they were. They were cherry red. It also started idle surging now. I never thought a brand new motor would be acting so wierd. I guess I will pull the valve covers off and reset the valve lash again maybe that will change something.  

I think you have way too much fuel pressure.  45 P.S.I. with a 30 lb. injector is way rich.  That would also explain the surging idle and the black plugs.  I'd set the base timing at 16 degrees and have the fuel pressure around 34 to 36 at idle with teh vaccuum line off.  Don't forget to pull the spout connector when you're setting the base timing.  Also, is the cam you're running the stock H.O. firing order ?  

ok I will have to try that. I have to get a new fuel line because my fuel pressure guage broke off in my shraider valve....had to kung-fu grip it on there. I will get a new one of those and try turning down the fuel pressure then and i will try the timing. I have been told so many things at this point that it is hard to make a move when it comes to timing and stuff like that. I will try all this and see what happens. yeah my cam is for the factory firing order. thanks man  

ok guys here is the latest. I redid the lower manifold gasket today thinking that was causing a vacuum leak to make it idle surge or lean out the glowing cylinders. Also got the fuel pressure set first to 40psi then 35 psi, then to 32 and so far the only thing that has changed is that there are no longer any primaries turning red on the drivers sideat all. but i still have numbers 3 and 4 glowing, 4 is brighter than three. I am going to try switching some injectors around tommorrow and also check the valve lash on three and four. timing is set to 16 degrees initial. it is also still idle surging pretty bad but it did not surge when i first started it, it idled well for the first 5 minutes or so. anything else guys? maybe some kind of sensor could do this? man this sucks..  

ok guys i retorqued my manifold and swapped around a couple injectors and fired it up and it stopped glowing. i have been driving the car for a week now with no problems, until tonight. I was driving around and the car started bucking real hard at low rpms and you could barely get off the clutch without it wanting to stall out. as you increased rpm it stopped bucking. popped the hood and there it was same two header primaries numbers 3 and 4 again glowing red. i also noticed that the back rockers on just that side started chattering louder than the others. I have adjusted these about 4 times now. i am lost once again, thought i solved it but its back. anyone make anything out of this? thanks guys  

has anyone had this problem or know anyone i can contact who has?  

Killer, your injectors are not the problem. Your distributor is off by a tooth or two. Probably just 1 tooth. You need to find TDC on your #1 cylinder (per your Haynes or other manual) and re stab the dizzy. If you dont get it right the first time try again. This is old hat for a lot of gear heads, i cant believe no one knows it. Im 100 percent sure thats what the problem is. It shouldnt take more than 20 min at most. I believe I saw a similar post on another mustang forum recently that i assume was yours also. Good luck! And let us know how it turned out.  

Hello every one...I whish I was here to help, but Im in the same boat.. I too had a similar problem in my first start up....the headers were cherry red all the way to the exaust pipes..not sure what caused that. anyway... the motor now sounds hard to turn and the starter sounds like it can't rotate the engine as before..not sure if that caused damage to it.  checked all plugs and look good..no black carbon deposits or anything.  The engine did run for a little bit thoug but now its dificult for the starter to turn it...  My engine is a 347. Eagle internals (rods and crank) and KB pistons. AFR heads and RPM II intake. 30lb injectors with C&L calibrated tube. CR is around 10.7:1 and Gap was at .45 with MSD6AL box.    I also had the miss as Killer. it happened after the engine got hot to around 200degrees. Not sure if Im using the correct plugs..Im using Autolite double Platinium I think they are RR25 not sure. Any way, I thought to write this just in case someone knows what the problem is.. Thank you all for whatever help you can provide.  

hey man i figured out my problem. the plugs have to be the inch long plugs from autolite. first i used the half inch ones not knowing the depth of the threads in the AFRs. I found that it was my intake gasket not sealing correcting in the rear. I have the same intake you got with the same heads. it seems like that seal has to be absolutely perfect between the heads and the intake. mine was hard to start after i started it and the headers were glowing, the heat after a while actually burnt my starter up. but yeah i must have resealed my intake 7 or 8 times. im late posting back but let me know if you figured it out or not....see what caused yours.  

Hey Killer, it been a while man. Any ways. I did found the problem and it was the timing as someone else pointed out.  My timing was off a couple of teeth.  I realigned it and it run perfect. I haven't have any issues since then.  I even purchased a PMS from Anderson Motorsports and the car is a lot of fun.   I haven't been to the track yet, but I'll post the numbers later.  Let us know how your car is running.  It looks like you and I have the same combo except you have the AFR 185 and I have the AFR 165 : (