So it's not in the picture, but we also have a chassis ground from the engine to the chassis in the front of the car. Like I said before we are using 2/0 gauge welding cable and the engine turns over great when the starter actually engages. In all honesty we are trying to get out of taking the exhaust, headers, sparkplugs back off to try to get to the starter again. Though it sounds like we should try the old starter and see if it does the same thing to eliminate the wiring or the starter being the problem. The old starter worked, it just cranked the engine over very slowly.

Appreciate all the feedback though. It's very helpful to hear from people with different perspectives.