Instrument gremlins.

Weeeeell, the fast, faint rear turn signal is probably caused by the missing tang on the matching front turn signal. The standard blinker relay depends on a certain amount of current draw to flash at the right rate; if one blub, front or rear, blows out, then the curret wil be too low and it will blink at a real fast rate or not at all. That was actually a trouble indicator for the operator (as well as a cheap blinker relay design). (Just as an FYI, heavy duty or trailer towing blinker relays are designed to not be dependent on the current draw through them so you will have the same blinking rate with a trailer connected or not...)

You might be on track about the short.... it may not be a dead short but it is very likley something dropping the voltage going to the ignition. It also may be a bad ingition switch; that controls the juice to the igntion system (obviously!). They are known to get bad and you may have jarred it out of and into a good connection. Easy to find and to replace for anyone with decent mechanical skills. You really outght to dig into the column wiring based on what you just reported.

The positive comment on the troubleshooting aids are appreciated; that is the whole point: give some corrobrating info to narrow things down, or procedural steps of eliminating this then that. Sometimes it is hard to do on an internet forum however....so please don't be too hard on others. This is an all volunteer effort and those with the knowledge can share it as they please. Courtesy from all parties always helps smooth things along!