1992 PCM Pro Boss 5.8 351W 285 hp Ford, won't start hot

Hey Guys, I'm new to the forum and new to this boat/motor. I have done a lot of work n smaller motors/carbs but not sure where to start with this one. I just bought the boat, it starts and runs pretty decent. A little rough at idle when cold, but once warmed up everything seems to run pretty decent. If I turn the motor off when it is hot it does not want to restart unless I give it a ton of throttle and then it revs to the moon and when I pull it back it usually dies. I have to find the right combination to keep it running, after that it seems fine again. Apparently the previous owner tried rebuilding the carb a couple of times then told me he sent it off and they sent him a replacement, but it wasn't the original but was supposed to work with this motor. I suspect I'm fighting a carb problem. This motor has the individual coil packs and I've gone through and replaced the spark plugs already. My biggest concern at the moment is identifying the carb and why some nipples are capped and some are not. It also looks like a ground cable for the choke is not connected (see attached pic). Any thoughts on what these items are and where I should start? Thanks in advance!

Ok, I'm answering my own questions with research. I was looking at the Holley electric choke installation guide and it shows the vent that need to be left open. It looks like someone added a short pipe to mine but ok. And looking at the wiring diagram for my motor found in the owners manual it looks like the factory wiring harness is supposed to supply 12V+ and gnd for the choke circuit. The gnd wire looks to be used when this carb is used on another motor.

I think my next step is going to try and see if I can confirm the proper operation of the choke when cold and at temp. Feel free to offer any other suggestions.

Welcome to ME.com! Confirm the holley and it looks like a marine version with the J vent tubes....good news is holley has a lot of reference info on their www site. As a general rule, marine carb setups have no vacuum ports so nothing should need to be capped off...Some engines will use a PCV so that's the only exception - many will just use vent tubes, from the rockers, to the flame arrestor. I'd start by getting the number off the carb and make sure it is marine rated....then verify the setting and jets.....I'm no expert on the PCM fords am thinking you may have a hybrid as most of the 5.8L from that time frame use the ProTec injection system based on the Ford EEC-IV computer...that implied the fuel injection was deleted and the carb installed - again this is just my hunch...you can call PCM with the engine serial number and verify what was installed when it left the factory.