Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1926 starter for a nash floor petal, blown head gasket, pressure foot

Question
i had the starter refurbished ...when i push the foot petal to the nash with out the battery hooked up the pressure foot on the top of the starter releases...when i hook up the battery (positive ground) the pressure foot on the top of the starter sticks like glue and then the wires to the battery gets hot..i melted a 6 volt battery cable the postive ground...so i replaced that but  it still happens  hopefully u have an idea ..someone said it could be a short somewhere..but where

Answer
I can think of two major possibilities here. The first is that there a direct short circuit in the starter. The second is that the engine is bound up. If I had this car in my shop I would diagnose it this way. I wound remove the spark plugs and attempt to turn the engine over without using the starter. Most of the time to do this I remove the splash pan under the flywheel and using a big screw driver to lever the engine over using the teeth on the ring gear. When I remove the spark plugs I keep the in order as the color on the tip (firing end of the plug) is like an xray to see the condition of the inside of the engine. Watch to see if there is any moisture on the tip of any of the plugs. This could indicate a blown head gasket and if a cylinder is full of coolant the engine will not turn.If the engine tuns and there is no moisture in the engine then the problem is the starter. I run a shop in Florida where I rebuild starters, generators, and carburetors. I get starters in that some one else has refurbished and find shorts in them. I have parts sent to me from all over the world to be rebuilt.