8BA Crankshaft pulley problem

[tubman]

I got my 258 inch engine back from the machine shop. The machinist had done me the "favor" of installing a one-piece front seal, along with the requisite "Redi-Sleeve". I have never had a problem with properly installed rope seals leaking, so I have no experience with the one piece seals. I installed the new truck water pumps with no problem, but when I got around to installing the crankshaft pulley, it became obvious that it would have to be modified to fit. It looks like 1 1/4" has to be removed from the back of the pulley to make it fit. If I take that much off the pulley, I will lose most of the area in the bore that is sized to fit snugly on the crankshaft. The crank pulley I am using was represented to me when I purchased it as a '49 Mercury unit. When looking down the bore from this pulley (from back to front), there is 1 1/4 " of bore that fits the crank snugly; then there is a relieved area about 3/4" long. After that, there is another 3/4" bore that is sized to the crankshaft snout. If I shorten the pulley to fit, I will lose the 1 1/4" of support, leaving only 3/4" of support for the pulley. Is that enough? I will be going from 2" of support to less than an inch. Part of me says that should be enough, but another part of me is bothered by losing that much support area. Any suggestions will be welcomed.

Another problem is that the Mercury pulley is larger in diameter than the other 8BA crankshaft pulleys I have. Enough larger, in fact, that it will not clear the timing pointer installed in my aluminum timing cover. There seems to be enough room on the cover to drill another hole an re-locate the timing pointer. Is this the usual procedure to be used? Also, the pulley I have is for the wide belt, but it has two grooves, of which the inner one will line up with the water pumps if I trim it down as described. I am starting to wonder if the pulley I have is actually for a '49 Mercury; with the second groove, could it be from a large truck? I can make this all work, but I want to do this as easily and as correctly as I can.

Perhaps this would be the time to consider an aftermarket harmonic damper?