Having a small problem........finishing up a restoration and when cranking the engine the ground wires on the battery and the one on the top engine bone gets "smoking" hot. Any ideas on what could cause this? The starter as well gets hot within a matter of seconds

 

Ignition off all is OK?

Ignition on all is OK?

Ignition to start and the cables and starter heat up, and no crank?

Does the starter turn at all? Is the starter shorted?

If the ground was bad you'd have no/low current flow and that means too little juice @ the starter. If things are getting hot you have too much flow cuz of too little resistance/energy consumption....is my thought

The starter is toasted.?What happens if you jump the positive bat cable to the starter lug?

I'd be checking the connections at the starter solenoid....my guess is something is crossed there; or the solenoid is bad. But this is also based on the wiring I find in my 79....a remote mount solenoid.

What year?

Positive ground? (older might not be)

Alternator or generator? (again age based)

Remote solenoid or integral to the starter?