Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1955 chevy p/u, amp fuse, 55 chevy

Question
I have a 55 Chevy p/u. I noticed that under the dash on the drivers side panel,
there's some kind of porcelain things with wires running to them. There's one
that has coils on the side that are turning red hot. Is this something that's
normal or do I need to find out where the wire goes to and replace it. I
recently had 2 hot wires heat up to where they melted the insulation on the wire, but
I replaced them both. I'm just not for sure if this porcelain one was turning
red then or not. It's just something that I noticed now that I had to replace
the other wires. I never looked under the dash before so not for sure if the
coils were hot or not. Any help is appreciated.
Ronnie


Answer
Hi Ronnie:
If these wires are hot, It surely have a problem. My guess is a short where there should be a fuse to break that circuit. Sounds like it may have been re-wired at some point. Find out where the wires are going and what the amps are. Maybe you should add the correct amp fuse to break the circuit when it over heats or shorts out.