Saw off as much as you can or it will ruin the bearings.
Soon after I bought my 6 inch Craftsman lathe I thought I could take a
Briggs Stratton mower engine and convert it to a 2 stroke. I chopped off
everything 4 stroke and went after it with various cutters, files and
hope.
Totally messed up the bearings but the end result was not bad.
I put new Timkens in there. Good as new.