1985 Other Oldsmobile Models bought car and almost fed up

I got a 1985 olds Delta 88 307, auto Trans and I have been working on it for a while(3months off and on).I have replaced spark plugs oil filter and changed all fluid and I have tracked the no-start problem down to it being between the fuse box and the battery.I know that could be a number of things in between there but I noticed there was a wire missing from the distributor cap (the hot wire is on there and getting power)and when I try to start it with a good charged battery my wire from the battery to the starter keeps getting hot and I have melted a batt wire already I have gotten tired of trying to play guess who the motor is not locked up and all the needed wires are connected to start car the starter will kick and try to turn the engine over but whien I do that the power wire seems to heat up and starts to burn and I see where it is burning by the starter but there is no metal touching by the wire from what I can see so what should I do?