hi

1. does the ed steel pipe from the water pump and thermostat housing fit on the au engine if you want to use the ed inlet manifold

2. what do people do about getting the distributor to work on the au engines without chewing aux shafts and gears out

1: Yes.
2: Retain the original Driven gear from the AU and place it on the Distributor. And I advise about using a Bosch Dizzy.

dont recon theres something else in the distributors place like the ef model does so do people keep the aux shaft on the au engine and just use a bosch distributor