Hey guys, I need your help. I accidentally left the interior lights on for a few hours in my stock 90 miata (while in the process of installing/setting up a Megasquirt 2 Enhanced) and then tried to start it (with the MS first, and then the stock ECU). The car cranked slowly for a few seconds, then stopped. The next day I tried jumping it with no luck, but it just made the typical clicking noise. I let it charge for 30 minutes and still nothing. Kept trying to start the car until I saw smoke seeping through the hood. I quickly unplugged the battery but the insulation had already begun to melt around the ground wire to the battery.

The simplest explanation I can think of is my starter created a short internally and is now fried. However, because I was in the middle of installing the MS (so that at various times the TPS was unplugged, the "ST SIGN" fuse was removed, and a vacuum line off of the intake manifold was hooked up to the MS) I suspect that the problem might have been caused by something other than the starter. Advice?

Thanks for your help!