Wiring/general help please?!

[dawerks]

360 Manual, 1974 (Posted in Newb into as well, but no response..)

The guy helping me is gone    Forever. Alone.

Sigh.
Anyways, we move on!!  I need help, and you will help me?  Yes you will!

I need parts, so I ordered them.

Problem #1; The starter does engage when you click it! YES!  But, engine doesn't turn over very much.  The starter was touching the manifold and grounding out?  Also, my ground wire heats up ALOT and smokes.  And I don't have the correct starter bolt?  My old starter was huge so I got a small high torque one. 

How you can help; is there a starting diagram I can look at?  What and where does the engine/battery ground to?  Where can I buy a good header/manifold for the 360?

One step at a time

[dakota]

If your ground wire is hot enough to smoke, there is a serious short occurring.   I'm far from an expert on wiring for these cars but I would think the fusible link (if there is one) would have done its job and failed before your ground wire could overheat.

If by "starter touching the manifold" you mean the body of the starter was touching the manifold, from an electrical standpoint that should not matter (heat from the manifold would not be good for the starter).  If the positive cable to the starter is touching the manifold, that is a significant issue which could also be causing your starter to turn slower.
 

[Chryco Psycho]

where is the battery ground cable attached ? It should got to the left cylinder head , if it is getting hot the cable could be bad as well .

[dawerks]

There was no engine ground, so starter wasn't even working.  Then we grounded the engine (first by accident) then by running a smaller (4 gauge) wire to a random bolt on the engine (by the water pump). 

The fusible link didn't blow (but how do you check it? it looks like a solid little square?)

[Chryco Psycho]

if power goes through it is generally ok . you can pull on it ,, if it has heated up there may only be a couple of strands left & it may pull apart .
you need to have both battery cables in perfect condition , 4 guage or bigger , the ground Has to go to the engine as that is where the peak load is the factory negative has a pigtail that will connect to the rad wall near the left headlight ground it if has a proper ground to both the engine & body