Ford: 1964 Ford Galaxy, ford fairlane, volt system

Question
QUESTION: 352 V-8, 70,000 miles and sat for 10 years.  New fuel in the tank & carb primed. Replaced the battery today and when hooking up the negative terminal, it sparked. Generator light comes on when key is inserted into the iginition.  When key is turned slightly to the right, oil light comes on and generator light goes off. Starter turns the engine over but car will not start.  Smoke seen rising from the starter area. The battery is now disconnected. Ideas?

ANSWER: is the polarity of the battery correct? Also some of the old galaxys were six volt sysems, check that first.

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QUESTION: The positive terminal of the battery is hooked to a relay box on the fender and a cable from that box runs down to the starter.  The negative terminal of the  battery is connected to a cable running directly to the engine block (near the water pump).  The owners manual says it is a 12 volt system. But one thing I was wondering is if it a 12 volt positive ground system rather than a 12 volt negative system.  The original battery cables were replaced years ago and the only indication I have that it is a negative ground system is that the cable with the larger post connection is on the positive side of the battery and that side goes to the relay box on the fender then on to the starter.  Many thanks for responding, I really do appreciate your assistance.

Answer
It may a positive ground, I seem to remember hooking up a battery in my 73 f-100 backwards and it did much the same as what you describe so it is likley, but let me dig out some old ford tech books over the weekend and see what I can find for you.
6/27/2009
i checked out a few books and even went and looked at my uncles 302 ford fairlane (64') as well. it is a negitive ground system