Can I check funcitionality of the ammeter gauge?

[wh23g3g]

On my 65 Valiant I noticed half of the gauges and lights weren't working on the dash. So I removed the dash bezel and cleaned and checked everything. The speedometer cable was broken and not hooked up. The temp gauge I tested with by powering the terminals with two wires hooked up to a lawn mower battery. It moves like it should. So does the fuel gauge. I don't know how to test the ammeter gauge. All the lights worked when I applied power to them but they didn't in the car. The headlight switch worked because all the outside lights came on. The oil light may work but I don't think the oil sending unit is hooked up. How do you test the ammeter gauge? The blue bulb cover right above the gauge was melted so I put a new extra one on from a spare Charger panel I had. So I don't know if the ammeter gauge still works. Is there a way I can test it at home? I thought it was broken when I hooked up a battery to it, but I guess that won't work because I did the same thing to a Charger ammeter gauge and it sparked.

 

[MadScientistMat]

Measure the resistance across the terminals with an ohmmeter and you should find near zero resistance. Put something like an AAA battery across the terminals (don't hold it there for long!) and it will move. That should establish if it's working.