I bought the mini hei from a salvage yard. It is from a 1983 S10 with a 2.8L. Cheap and plentiful. I paid $35. I wanted to adapt it to a reo 331 truck engine. In that application, the gear is on the oil pump making it easier to adapt an alternative distributor.

The shaft diameter on the mini hei is 0.426 vs. the original gmc/chevy diameter of 0.490. It appears to me that the stock disty gear is located at the top by the disty and at the bottom in the oil pump. Does it need to be supported at the bottom? In the stock floating arrrangement, probably. But what if the disty is clamped in place and not allowed to move. If not allowed to move, will this be enough lateral support? Is this how Langdon's mini hei is getting away with a smaller diameter shaft?

What about the large hei with the wobble joint? Will removing the flange at the top also allow the disty to move away from the cam gear resulting in poor engagement?

Jason