Had my engine out to do the con rod bearings. Just got everything back together and connected the battery and the starter runs constantly with the key out... noticed we had installed the earthing lead back in the wrong location but is the likely to cause the issue? Will be having another go tonight to see if we can solve it. Cheers

 

Sounds like the starter terminals are shorted to make the starter run all the time.
As long as the earth lead it bolted to engine or gearbox it will be ok/