Starting Issue (Possible Ground Issue)

[DreamRyder1963]

I am having trouble getting my 71 C10 to start. The radiator went out last week and the truck sat for a couple of days till the new radiator came in. Well when I got everything back together the truck would not even engage the starter. The brake light in the cluster would come on and thats it. I jumped the solenoid and it started to turn the truck over but it was very slow so I replaced it with a known to be good starter. It still did not start the truck. I decided it had to be a bad connection somewhere so I replaced the cable ends and tighten all the connects I could find. Nothing happened so I swapped the battery (a brand new Optima Red Top) and it started finally!

I drove my truck to work yesterday and on the way I had a new hose blow out on me. I pulled over and let it cool off. When it cooled off I tried to move it to a safer place and the truck would not start! I figured that the solenoid was simply heat-soaked and would be fine later.

This morning I fixed the hose and it still would not start. I decided it must be a ground issue so I disconnected and cleaned the connection at the block and checked a seperate ground someone attached to the fender. It still will not start. I took both batterys to work today, I work at Advance Auto, and checked them. It looks like the Optima is fried but the other battery has 1100 cca. Last time I checked that should start a stock 350 with no troubles. I could use any ideas on what I might have missed. Thanks for your help.