I first thought the needle/seat was an issue, so I checked the needle/seat/float on both the primary and secondary bowls of the carb.  They seem to be working correctly. They move up/down and seal off. I tested by puffing air through the gas inlet to see if the needle sealed off. Not really sure why its pumping gas like that, but the new owner told me he swapped the carb with another one he had, and it did the same thing.  That right there tells me either both carbs have the same problem, or its not the carb. Maybe something else, like fuel pressure. It has a mechanical fuel pump, not electric. Never seen one of these pump too much fuel pressure, but anything could happen I guess.

Another thing that he has done is he changed the starter. I know the "R" in PRD engine code means RH Rotation and the firing order on the engine tag says 1-8-4-5-6-2-7-3. In the Pleasurecraft Manual (pg 11) I got from the manuals section, it doesnt list this as a RH drive (I wonder if this is a misprint.) Notice both of the ones below are labeled LH and show a CCW rotation of the rotor button.  The rotor button on this engine rotates CW as its turning over. Is this correct, or is the starter turning the engine the wrong direction?

I checked firing on #1 plug and it fires. Any ideas, or things I could check?

Thanks

The 351W fire order is different.

Std LH Rotation 351W = 13726548  

Rev RH Rotation 351W = 18456273

You can go here to verify:  https://bpi.ebasicpower.com/faq/firingorder.htm

I think I found the problem by reading and searching some other posts.  Ran across http://thttps://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24245&title=engine-rotation" rel="nofollow - this post where TRBenji says this,

 "Both LH and RH engines will spin the rotor counter-clockwise. If its turning clockwise, then you're turning the engine backwards and your suspicion about the incorrect starter would be confirmed."

You pretty much have this figured out, the guy that bought the boat put in a normal rotation starter and it's turning the engine backwards Not sure why he replaced the starter, but he created this problem all by himself.

Like you said, the PRD means that it's a Reverse Rotating 351 and like MrMcD said, the 1-8-4-5-6-2-7-3. firing order on the tag is right for a Reverse Rotating 351.

The rotor turns Counter Clockwise in both a normal rotation engine and a Reverse Rotation 351.

It was designed and built that way by Ford. The camshaft rotates backwards in the Reverse Rotating engine but due to the reverse cut of the camshaft gear and the distributor gear, the distributor still rotates the same direction as the Normal Rotating engine.

This lets the same oil pump be used for both engines. If you turned the oil pump backwards, you wouldn't be pumping any oil.

Once he gets a starter that rotates the right way, and the engine gets cranked over, the carburetor problem will disappear and the engine should run unless there are other issues.  Right now air is getting sucked in through the exhaust and the carburetor thinks it's an exhaust pipe

The short time spent turning the engine over backwards with no oil flow didn't really hurt anything, people have been accidentally proving that for years here on CCF.  

Thanks Ken. I looked at the link MrMcD posted and it shows the correct rotation (CCW) and firing order for the motor. I just knew it was not the carb causing the issue.

Now for a search for a MARINE starter.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Your reverse rotation engine will take a Counter Clockwise rotating starter. Due to the mounting position and how starter rotation is viewed a LH or Counter Clockwise starter is the right one  See the picture below

The best thing you could do is to get an ARCO 70201 marine starter or a marine equivalent to that ARCO part number.

Some of it's advantages are, it's smaller, draws less current, spins the engine faster, is lighter and easier to install due to the size and lightness.

It takes a small minor wiring change that's spelled out in the instructions.

Ford and PCM started using this style starter in about 1993.

The picture below explains starter rotation

Some shopping around will give you a pretty wide range of prices 

Here's a link to one at Marine Parts Source at a decent price with fast free shipping since you're spending over 100 bucks  

http://marinepartssource.com/starter-arco-70201" rel="nofollow - link

Pleasure Craft RA122002

and 

ARCO 70201

The 70201 is what was mentioned earlier