87 chopped XJ isnt running right

my old 87's first trial run was mardi gras mudfest at creekside. she drove great the first day all day long, the last hole we drove it through, the E-fan got hit by water and partially damaged it. we took it out and drove around the next day and once it warmed up it would idle bad, we could give it little gas to alot of gas and sounded like the spark plugs were fouled bogging down and missing. it never got over 190 degrees, i think it has to do with vapor lock but im not sure, we put another fan back in thinkin the engine bay was getting too hot and it still did the same thing. then it would just sit cranking over and over for like 2 minutes before it would start up. i let it cool down for about 10 minutes then pressed on the schrader valve and abunch of air came flying out, i held it while my dad cranked it over and gas flew out and BAM it started right up...we had to do this everytime to get it started.
Do you think it could be the fuel pump slowly dying or some other known cause i'm overlooking? my 90 XJ's engine bay was equally if not more hot under the hood and ive had it hit 230 b4 by accident and has never experienced bad idle and not being able to rev up the engine. oh and if you romp on the gas it will die immediatly, you have to baby the gas pedal till rpms get up then you can romp on it, its always been like that. ive had it broke in my driveway for a year getting new floors, front axle, caging the top, motor repairs etc...so first trial run and this is all ive experienced.
Thanks for your thoughts and sorry for the long read

Have a look and see if the vacuum line on the fuel rail is unhooked or has a crack. without vacuum hooked the fuel pressure increases and will cause it to load up. (just a guess i would think the pump maybe dieing or the regulator is stuck for the no start)

vacuum is good, im going to hook a gauge to the fuel rail and see what shes putting out