Fan belt too tight...caused damage ?

[Trueoo7]

Not my car but my brothers, after about 500 miles on a ford crate engine
(302) EFI. Started making a rattling noise, removed the fan belt which was very, very tight and the noise goes away. Decided to replace the water pump which it turns out he had the wrong one on anyway, alternator was fine. Put the fan belt back on and he still has the noise. Adjusted the fan belt ever so slightly and noise goes away somewhat. Changed out the fan belt to a slightly longer one for more adjustment and the noise, while not totally gone is there on deceleration only and only for a brief second or two, if you don't listen carefully you'll miss it. Decided to check the oil and filter. Oil looks very clean and cut the filter open and found no babbit material whatsoever.

We're thinking that due to the extra tension put on the front main bearing from the belt being so tight that this may be the start of a problem down the road. Has anyone else run into this problem? We've been told that the snouts on 302 are not all that beefy and this could have caused undue wear. Planned on pulling the engine this winter for a better look, if it makes it that long.