Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1955 chevy p/u, 55 chevy, heater fan

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
The old style voltage reducing resistor coils do get very hot. Nothing to worry about unless you forget and lay your leg against it. It probably goes to heater fan, but the is one to the coil too.

There are new styles the don't use heat sink as a reduction method.