Have a 1.8 bp engine in my kit car. I'm thinking of taking the harmonic damper off and getting the redundant aircon pully machined off it. This is not to shave a few grams but to give it a few more mm clearance from the chassis frame as it is extremely close.

Not sure how its constructed.
-Is the aircon pully part of the structure (ie. will it fall apart if I skim it off)
-Would it still perform as a damper

I nearly brought a solid aluminium one before reading how fragile the oil pumps are....

 

Not a good idea, since the damper material exists between the aircon pulley and the inner hub. What you want is a BHJ race damper: Race Special Mazda Miata & BP Series 1.8 L 4-Cylinder Harmonic Damper [MAZ-IB1.8BP-6-SP] : BHJ Dynamics, Harmonic Dampers and Specialty Crankshaft Vibration Dampers

 

That looks sexy! But no - just no not spending that kind of money on a pulley. I take it there are no oem pulleys of similar mazda/ford engines that will fit?
If I want to turn my engine over by hand I have to jack one of the back wheels up and turn the wheel in gear!