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I'm changing the water pump pulley on my '47 Super's 356 merely as the existing one has a small, thumbnail-sized chip on the rear outer flange. It doesn't harm the belt, but since i've a virgin spare, i'll use that strictly for the cosmetics, not that anyone else'll notice.

My existing pulley has the usual pair of balance holes drilled in the same area as the four bolt holes. My unchipped spare has no balance holes, and a friend who's been involved with these cars since the '50s can't recall ever seeing a 356 pulley without balance holes. Perhaps this one made it through inspection without requiring further attention?

Just to play safe, since these 356 water pump pulleys are cast iron, heavy, i'm going to have a machine shop doublecheck it for balance. Since the fan's off, thought i'd have him check that, too, even tho' the fan looks fine, seemed to spin smoothly.

Anyone ever have a 356 fan balanced? Did the shop balance it with the pulley, or separately?

The fan and pulley should be balanced as a unit due to the non-symmetrical fan blades.
Most of the originals that I have seen were match marked for assembly.

The match mark comment is a very good note.

I remember a Darrin years that had repetitive water pump problems and I'll bet it was running a non-matching water pump pulley and fan.