Here are a couple of pics of my '54 235 in the '40. I used a new water pump from rock auto , it was 4mm longer than the original (I shortened it to fit), my fan is 18" and clears the balancer by about 3/8" . There is maybe less "set" on the blades than you have. There is no interference at all . It is very close to the radiator. Like you , I have also got more cores in the radiator.
