my only experience is on my 66 coronet. I had replaced lifters last summer, put the intake back on, carb mounted. When I went to start it. It did that EXACT same thing. It'd rev up super high, die. wait for the fuel pump to push more gas in.. (lather, rinse, and repeat).
not that it's run long. Do you have a new plug in there? If so, what color does it look? That should at least give some sort of indication of lean/rich..
the backfiring is a symptom of extreme lean conditions. (If it ran good prior to the rebuild, this really makes me think you got an air leak somewhere)