440 Rear main seal question

When I had my 340 crank re-chromed the owner of the crank shop told me that the knurl is there to sling the oil away from rear main seal area as rope seals were prone to leaking. My crank had a severe groove in the seal surface from rope seal wear and was re-chromed to return it to the correct seal diameter and the knurl was chromed over. I now have a lip seal which is leak free, and will work fine with or without the knurl as the sealing ability of the lip seal is much better than a rope seal.