What is this?

[litevette]

On my '68 Firebird, there is what looks like a resistor block (?) that is bolted to the firewall above the distributor. The source is keyed "on" from the ignition (reads 11.8 volts when key is on) and there are two wires feeding out of it. One went to the electric choke on the carb I used to have, and the other went to my old coil. So here's my question...Since I just installed a new HEI distributor, and will be using the wire that fed the old points as my power supply to the new distributor, does it matter if this distribution block thing is bolted to the firewall or not? Reason being is that when I removed it (couldn't drop in the distributor without doing so) the nut on the inside of the firewall (under the dash) dropped. SO... for now this block is just hanging there. Does it need to be bolted in so it can be grounded? Reason being is that I just got the distributor in and was fooling with it to get the car running. It got late/dark and I didn't feel like continuing until later/day time. When I get back at it, am I messing with timing to no avail if this isn't grounded?