This is the second radio I have seen like this. There must not be a ceramic insulator the size of the max mod. I do not think this is getting the correct cooling. I do believe you need the insulator as a spacer in this circumstance.
I believe that the mica insulators that are supplied with the Max Mod are sufficient.
They are full size to the transistor.
And I also agree that full coverage is desirable to what is pictured above.
No, you do not need the spacing provided by the ceramic insulator, but it is not a hindrance either.. The pins are flexible and there are not any sharp bends you have to accommodate.
I have installed the Palomar Max Mod transistor in many different brand radios. The photo above appears that it may be an AT-6666 radio .....
If you look on Amazon and type in Palomar Max Mod you will see they sell a hardware kit that includes just the nut, bolt and mica insulators nothing else. Now do try to keep up here because this is not a tricky abstract idea or any sort of agenda.
If they always send out nuts, bolts and mica insulators why would they need to sell a kit that only has those items in with no transistors? I hope I have not lost you with this deep difficult idea to ponder. If they always send out such items with all of their transistors there would be no need to make these items available separately.