I accidentally fixed the play in my steering

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I pulled the power steering pump from the 71 cuz I'm tearing her down. It has a small dent or two, and I thought it might be leaking (turns out probably not, just bad hose(es)). The one on the 72 looks great, so I "negotiated" a trade.

I generally don't do stupid stuff (try anyway), but for some God knows reason, after I installed the pump on the 72 and before adding fluid, I decided to straighten the front wheels a good 8". I did so without power and without jacking up the truck and the entire time I'm turning the steering wheel I'm thinking (this can't be good, why am I doing this, perhaps some good will come of this ha!).

At any rate, the steering tightened up and I can actually drive over 50 MPH. Couldn't tell you why, new fluid or "error".