After trying Versy's method, and getting nothing, I even stood on the breaker bar and could not get it loose, only to have the vise grips smack against the pulley and bend the outside as the socket went past the stopping point...arg, a bigger socket would jump back out, what the heck, was this like Goldilocks and the soup, chair, bed, I had to find the one that is just right  

Giving the pulley more scrutiny,  or more to point, the ding I put in it, I noticed the outside is just welded on, a softer metal, and a sloppy weld with no uniformity to it.
I noticed it bent rather easy....
I thought, what the heck, Versy is too far away for me to punch any way, so I figgered I would give it just enough outward bend to allow the belt to get started....

It worked  

I got it all put together and gently tapped it back into shape, as iyt can only go as far as the teeth anyway, fact is a gap appears between the side and the teeth
This is more like a belt loop, on our jeans, and not the belt at all....
It is not really harmonic balanced, as the lumpy weld will testify to that.

I took it for a spin, rides great, does not rub, and I am a happy camper  

BTW, that safety lock washer is there for a reason....
On aircraft we use similar safety devices on critical nuts/bolts to readily tell if the original torque has changed.
These are on parts that are replaceable, but not what we call serviceable, its more a use once and replace as the threads once torqued to spec can never be re-torqued as it has ever so slightly changed the tensile strength of the components....  

I have ta ask... what were you using vice grips on?

nope, but sounds like you shoulda used the next smaller socket.

yep.....

I did have the belt, where clamped w/ the VG break/tear on my first attempt even, as I layed to the breaker bar.
Guess that belt was toast and ready for some butter all along.

Not sure if this was a factor in failure, but I tried all sorts of remedies for the squeak. Looking at the pulley, etc, most seemed to attract debris and give only temporal repair to the noise.
I think a good cleaning of soap and water will be my standard from now on, or not, as it will only take minutes to replace belt now doing it this way