Won't throttle up

[bwconner]

I bought a 1977 Ranger with a 1500 Mercury Outboard. The guy started it up in the drive way so I assumed it ran OK. I took it to the lake to go fishing and when I put it in gear it would die. I took it to a boat shop and was told the carbs needed cleaning. I paid 366.00 to have this done and was told it was fixed. Took it back to the lake and it did the same thing. Called the boat shop mechanic and he told me the motor has good compression and spark so it must be the fuel pump. I bought the fuel pump kit and did it myself. Again it did the same thing. I started messing with the cables and got it to where it will run in gear. Both forward and reverse. It will run at low speed but when you try to speed up it will die down. Had a friend turn the distributor by hand when I push the throttle lever and it runs like a scalded ape. The next day I took the boat out by myself and again it bogs down when I try to speed up. The distributor is not advancing correctly. What do I look at to fix this? Thanks for all help.