So, basically by installing the 235 holddown mechanism on the modified housing at the proper location, there was no need to "modify" the drive gear or the oil pump drive tang in any way?
No, that isn't the case because the tang which drives the oil pump is too long and it will make the gear mate incorrectly with the camshaft if it isn't trimmed. I used the 235 holddown mechanism because I had it handy. As Jerry mentioned, you could make a pinch clamp from aluminum. The important thing is to be certain the gear which is driven by the camshaft mates as it was designed to. As fixite said you can see the difference if you compare the old (OEM) distributor to the HEI unit you need to modify. When you do that you will notice the OEM distributor was designed slightly differently. The part of the shaft that becomes the tang is radiused whereas the one on the HEI unit may be straight cut. Not a problem at all, but just a difference. As I said the main thing is to get the distance right so the gear won't be running too high nor to low on the cam drive. If you don't have an original distributor to compare, please let us know. I have one here I can take images of.
I'm the person who mentioned the oil problem. And the one I have definitely did that which was why I stopped using it. But in fairness I bought Tom Langdon's unit and haven't spent any time trying to figure out what the problem is with the other one I own...a project for a cooler day.
