Seeing the Ight

To my mind there is nothing simpler, more straightforward than a Model A. Working on these cars gives me the opportunity to practice the most basic logic. Take last night (and this morning)as an example. After replacing an ill-fitting four-bladed fan for a two-bladed version I took my wife along on my test drive. The old fan made an irritating creaking noise that made the whole truck sound like a pile of junk. So upon eliminating the bothersome noise a long leisurely test-ride was called for.
Lana and I made our way out of town and along the unlit stretch south of Lake Matthews. What a pleasure to be able to relax about the car and just tool along together talking about other stuff. While driving I was enjoying the easy steering and smooth shifting that were the fruits of some work I'd done over the past couple of weeks. It was also the first time I'd had the opportunity to see my headlights in action since I'd installed the alternator. The lights worked splendidly, but, of course, I wanted to adjust them just a little when we got home. They seemed a bit cross-eyed to me. However, I couldn't re-aim the acorn even after loosening the nut on the bottom of the headlight mounting bar. I gave the bolt a tap with a hammer and the lights went out on that side.
"Must've broken the filament," I thought. And even though it was nine o'clock at night, I really wanted to have everything working when I put the caar away. But replacing the bulb didn't solve the problem. After scratching my head for a while I decided to leave it for today.

This morning I spent an hour with a test light tracing the juice through the harness and that damn little connector at the base of the light acorn. Everything seemed to be working properly, yet the bulb still wouldn't light. It finally occurred to me to check the ground. As soon as I moved my test lamp from the frame to the acorn itself, the test lamp failed to light.
How simple! When I'd tapped the bolt the night before, I'd broken the ground connection to the rest of the car. As soon as I retightened the nut the lights worked perfectly again.
You see? That's how trouble-shooting on these cars always goes. It's a straight shot with no computers or sensors that one can't easily check.
So today, after replacing a tie rod end and tightening the pitman arm I enjoyed another satisfying test drive. Happily, the lights work, the fan remains silent and, as an added bonus the slop in the steering and the wobble are gone. Makes me want to take 'er out again tonight just to see the light.