Is there any difference in crank snout diameter where the crank timing gear sets between the forged and later cast cranks?

Nope, they are the same....but years of varnish and Butch the slipshod mechanic wanging a new crank sprocket on with his hammer back in 1988 might have scored the nose and some fine grit emery should clean it back up...(have had that happen on my 1979 cast crank)...that being said if you are using one of the Rollmaster timing sets they are very tight and need some massaging to get them to fit better.

Thanks very much. I just put in a plain-jane Cloyes set today; it all worked the slightly smaller diameter of the portion of the snout that holds the damper was fooling me. Got the crank gear off and saw the step. Been almost 30 years since I was in one of these!

Boy, does 4-5 crank degrees of restored cam advance make a difference!