273 distributor rotor rotates counterclockwise?

Some marine engines run backwards? Has it ever ran? Tell us the story.
definitely ran before, last owner threw in aftermarket distributor but the spark plug wires did not fit on cap correctly, the cap has male tips instead of female inserts so I bought the correct cap for the vehicle but because it's an aftermarket distributor the cap I bought didn't seat tight on the distributor it clipped on but didn't seat, however it ran, turn't over quick and ran steady, we wanted to fit the right wires on the aftermarket distributor cap so after Accell wires where purchased and installed the motor was off, shaky and sounded as if it wasn't firing from at least one piston. figuring the firing order was screwed up because we put the old set up back in place and it still did the same we researched the order put that place and caused even bigger problems.