Nissan Repair: engine swap 1998 nissan altima, nissan altima, chris neville

Question
I bought a 98 Nissan Altima w/ blown engine ( timing chain let go and munched valves). The replacement engine is a low mileage JDM unit. In swapping all parts from old engine to new engine, I am running into a problem. The car has a 5 sp. manual tranny and the "new" jdm engine was from a automatic. The pilot bearing wont fit. I used a caliper on the old crank flange and come up w/ .810 in, and on the JDM engine, the crank flange is .780 in. I am contemplating drilling out the flange to .810 for allow for the pilot bearing.  I am not sure if this is such a good idea though.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Chris Neville

Answer
Christopher,

Drilling the crank should be left to a speciality machine shop if that is the route you would take.  I would find a specialty bearing company and sit down with one of their specialists.  Here in Las Vegas there is Las Vegas chain and bearing and they have helped me with strange bearing types.  With the measurements a good company could help you with the correct pilot bearing.  Otherwise, you would have to remove the crank and find a machine shop with the equipment and skills to drill the hole to the correct size and keep it on center.  Finding a bearing that would work is the best path from my experience.