<VV> electrical assistance!!!

[STEVE BURNS]

I am not especially good with the electrical systems in general, so I am 
reaching out to the collective for some help. After a long winter's nap 
I found I had failed to disconnect my battery and needed to jump start 
the old girl. She started up and I took her out for a 20 minute drive to 
check out some of my winter improvements to the brakes and steering. 
Upon reaching my destination I parked, did my business and upon my 
return the battery was dead. I hooked up for another jump start, but 
noticed a little more arc on connecting than usual. I could hear the 
running car load down a bit as I walked to try starting the Vair. I 
turned the key and once again barely got the Alt lamp to turn on and had 
no response from the starter. Thinking I had a bad connection I turned 
to check the cables to see a large cloud of smoke coming from the engine 
compartment. I quickly disconnected the jumper cables ( yes they were 
correctly hooked up )and saw that the power cable going to the firewall 
connector was red hot and had melted the plastic off the cable. I 
flatbedded the car home, had the battery and alternator checked ( both 
ok ). I put an ohm meter from the firewall power lead to ground and 
found a 15 ohm resistance, not a full short, but still a significant 
drain. I next disconnected the bulkhead connector to the chassis wiring 
harness and the "drain" disappeared. I did ohm out the chassis bulkhead 
connector pins and can supply readouts if needed. Any thoughts on where 
I should go from here?  Please!