If the + terminal on your battery is getting warm something is pulling quite a bit of current (like wiring-harness damaging amounts). What I always do when hunting down suspect wiring (or testing wiring I have not examined fully myself) is use a hand-made current limiter. A standard sealed-beam headlight works well - put it in series with the + of the battery so even if you get a dead short, the worst that can happen is the light comes on full strength. If the light is off or very dim, there is only a small amount of current flowing. Using a simple rig like this, its easier to find stray current leaks by disconnecting various things until the light goes off.
My first suspicion is reversed polarity could have damaged the regulator inside the alternator (which is connected directly to the battery and is unfused). I would immediately unplug the connector at the back of the alternator. If you use a lamp as a current limiter, the light would go off when you unplug the alternator if that is the source of the drain.
I've been using that kind of a rig to test the wiring in the car I'm working on now since I wasn't sure what had been damaged by the previous owners. Its a lot less stressful testing unknown circuits when you know the worst that can happen is the headlight bulb comes on, and you'll never draw enough current to melt a wire or start a fire.