I put a new water pump on my 22r and the pulley seems to hit the bolts on the water pump, as far as i can tell the pulley is not bent, could i have the wrong bolts in the wrong locations? or is there supposed to be a spacer of some type between the water pump snout and the pulley?

 

check your old pump to see if the shaft is longer could be a defect or one of the bolts didnt screw all the way in theres no spacers

 

Could the pulley be on backwards?

 

without seeing a photo, that would be my guess as well.

 

check the plate that the pulley goes over, the one with the studs ,to see if it is on straight. i had a water pump on a chevy that the plate was pressed on at an angle. the pulley would hit the housing of the pump on one side when it rotated.

 

nothing on backwards, the plate with the studs was pressed too far on to the pump it was nearly touching the pump housing. of course the second time i put the pump on i sheered a bolt so now i get to have that fun