Hy Hydra1/2ton, the black 10ga. wire should go up to the ammeter, the other terminal of the ammeter should have a red wire, that takes power to the ignition switch, headlight switch, and the battery terminal of the voltage regulator. So unless someone has done some creative wiring, nothing should happen when the black wire is not on the large battery terminal of the starter. If you got smoke when you connected the black wire to the battery terminal of the starter, then something down the line is shorting to ground, any of the three components I mentioned could be at fault, hope that helps.
