Need advice about solid mounting a 340

I bought a motor a long time ago with a motor plate on it, it also had the front cover milled down the thickness of the plate so the water pump was in the correct depth, does the water pump still work the same being a 1/4" further out away from the front cover ?

That is a great question and will be one of the many things I check before I move on from this particular area of fitting! Thanks for the heads up:)