dome light short

[bearman]

I've gotten help here several times already.  Now I have a short in the dome light of my '53 Henry J.  The dome light is fine (replacement) and I checked all the wires under the dash from both door switches and they look fine; both switches tested fine, too.  The wires leading to the domelight also look fine, although I didn't pull them all the way out from the driver's window post for fear of ripping them or never getting them back in.  In checking under the hood, with BOTH battery cables off, I tested all three posts on the regulator and got continuity for ground on all three.  Does that make sense and is that the way it's supposed to be?  Seems fishy to me.  Could that be somehow related to the dome light short?  For now, I'm just leaving the bulb out of the dome light.

[Fid]

All three wires on the voltage reg will show very low resistance to ground as you're actually measuring through the generator armature and fields which nothing more that a lot of copper wire so the resistance will be very low. No suprises there. When you say "short" do you mean the light is on all the time? If so, either of the door jam switches could be stuck in the closed position. That's fairly common. Another problem might be the switch on the light itself - it could be broken and stuck in the closed position as well, hence the light will remain on. There are plugs on the wires just above the left side kick panel which connects the dome light to the hot terminal on the head light switch which is where most components in the Henry J get their power.
I recently installed new wiring for my '53 and you can see the connectors in this picture -

You may want to try unplugging them one at a time and see which one makes it go out. Then trace it and see where it goes. Be careful/gentle when you unplug it as the wires are old and brittle and can break. Gently wiggle them out. Also, make sure you mark them as the old wiring is likely faded and colorless at this age. 
Do you have a Henry J wiring diagram?  If you need one, make sure you get one for a 1953 Henry J as the '51s and '52s never had a dome light, only the '53 did, and they were not optional as so many people believe - they were standard equipment on all '53 Js. Let me know if this helps.

[bearman]

Fid,
 Once again, I'm thanking you for yet another great piece of advice.  Yes, by "short," I mean the light is on all the time. The dome light is a replacement (from Rudy Phillips) and it bench tested completely fine, including the switch.  As for the door switches, they tested fine, too.  THeir springs work fine, but does that mean they are actually "fine"?  The most likely culprit(s) would be those pesky wires behind the left kick panel and the junctions, so I'll re-check all of those.  And yes, I have the shop manual for the car, including all those wiring diagrams.  Now, what do you know about after-market turn signals (Autolamp 9000")?  That's the remaining electrical thing to get working!