Trying to ressurect the dead

I recently found a 90 Accord LX with only 110,000 for $1000 bucks.

I'm trying to rebuild as I go. I've had it running for two weeks and went to do remove the radiator overflow bottle (small leak). I took out the battery and one of the battery cable connectors broke. I replaced the connectors with new ones.

Now when I try to reconnect them the terminals (negative and positive) begin arcing.

If I try to do it quickly then it just pops the 80A fuse.

I'm just wondering if maybe damaged the grounding wires or am I just missing some step. Great with wrenches horrible with wiring, any help would be awesome!

Wright down fuses locations and then remove them all. Even in the fuse box in the engine compartment. You are not suppose to get any spark now when you hook the battery cables. Put fuses back one after another. The one that blows the fuse again has problems in its circuit.

Good luck,
Sam

Not good when you blow the 80A fuse. Did you install the battery correctly? The negative terminal should be closest to the front of the car. You may now have shorted diodes in the alternator. And you should be able to remove the overflow bottle without messing with the battery.