Jackson Fuller

I just picked up a 1984 RX-7 with a 12a and a 5 speed. The guy I bought it from claims it was running a month or two ago, but did some work on the carburetor and now it wont start. It seems like the carb is flooding but im not sure as I am a carb noob. We unhooked the fuel lines to the carb and tried to get it started with engine starter. It seemed like I wanted to go but it never did. After cranking for a while it finally let out a big fireball out of the exhaust and quit again. I have no idea what is wrong and honestly no idea where to start. Should I just rebuild the carb or is there a trick to get it started?