Classic/Antique Car Repair: starting issues

Question
QUESTION: I have a 1966 ford mustang with a 6 cylinder.  I am having an issue where the car will not start but the positive cable from the battery to the starter got extremely hot and started to melt.  I had the starter tested and it is good.  Any suggestions?

I also replaced the fuel pump and wonder if the engine is not cranking how will fuel get up to the carburetor?  Since there is no fuel in the line from the fuel pump to the carburetor do I need to prime this somehow?

ANSWER: If the battery cables are getting hot it indicates a bad starter or the engine is binding so that it is taking too much current to crank the engine over. Was this car running for you? Or are you trying to start something that has sat for a while. Let me know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The car was running before I replace the fuel pump and water pump.  I did have the starter checked and they said it was operating fine.  The car had been sitting for a few weeks and the battery was dead.  I was jumping the car battery with my civic when I had the issue.

Answer
OK, so the car does not crank, am I right? Npw this is way far out but it happened to me once on a car that I was working on and I saw another mechanic do it. On your six cylinder engine the water pump has at least two different length bolts. Several long bolts and one short one. Now if you put a long one in the hole that requires the short bolt it will punch into number one cylinder wall. The fix is to pull the engine and have that cylinder sleeved. To check for that condition pull the spark plug out of number one cylinder and unbolt the water pump. Try to turn the engine over. If coolant comes out of the spark plug hole and the engine turns over you have found your problem.