What year is your "old style" 235 (1953)?
If it is a low pressure 235, the diameter of the intake ports are smaller on the older manifold.
If it is a high pressure 235, the manifolds will bolt to a 261 (maybe - see below).
If your 235 is from a 1953 Powerglide passenger car, it is a real oddball - it would be high pressure engine with two bolts holding on the valve cover. I do not know if the intake manifold port diameter matches the 54-62 235/261. You'll have to tell us, unless someone else had dealt with one of these engines.
You refer to a metal sleeve type bracket. Was this around the exhaust manifold? If yes, that is an automatic choke "stove" that had a pipe from it into the automatic choke on the carburetor (usually on a Powerglide equipped car engine).
For more reliable answers, you might need to post head and block casting codes and/or the engine ID (pressed into the block in the ledge to the rear of where the distributor enters the block).
