Bad ground or something else??

[Satellite Pilot]

Built a new 440 for the Satellite this summer, fired it up today and ran through break in. All is mostly well, have some issues to work out. The biggest issue i'm struggling with right now is the starter. When we started the motor the starter seemed to be really struggling to turn the motor over but it would eventually fire up. After a few times of starting it would struggle more each time and then we noticed the main ground to the battery was HOT, and I could see a bit of smoke coming from the starter wires themselves. Ok, so there's a bad ground somewhere right? I also need to mention I was using a remote starter switch to crank the engine from under hood. We checked the grounds, cleaned them and then I tried to crank the motor, this time without having the ignition turned on, the starter cranked beautifully, no issues. Turn the ignition on, or try to start with the key and it struggles mightily again. I'm at a loss, hope this all makes sense and hope someone out there can maybe share some insight.

Thanks!

 

[R413]

Where is the battery? Under the hood? In the trunk?

What is on this car for equipment:
EFI
MSD or other aftermarket?
Pertronix
Electric fans
Electric fuel pump

 

[eldubb440]

ignition timing?

 

[ruffcut]

Timing was my first thought

 

[sam dupont]

dragging starter too

 

[Satellite Pilot]

Alright, well I feel like the big fool of the day. Timing was the correct answer, I'm not even going to try to explain the multitude of things that were leading me down the wrong paths. Just going to tuck my tail and wonder off now.....

 

[0DegreeEngineer]

Thank you for letting us know what the issue was