Hey Bill; You do not have to take the crank gear off. Just pull out the cam. I was going to drill out the plate on my 235 but the one on the 216 is a little beefier where the mounts are located. It's not a big deal to do. No more than a couple of hours. I would suggest you put a new seal in the timing cover though. What H/B are you using? Modified W/P or are you using the pump off the 216 with an adaptor plate. I just did mine last week.
