BDL Belt Drive Question

Hey all. Hope ya'll thirsty cause I'm buying drinks for the house.
Building my first bike. I am installing a BDL 3" belt drive, model
EVO-900 with outer bearing support. When it came time to install the
pulleys and belt everything went to hell. It was almost impossible to
get the two pulleys and belt to slide on. I knew this step could be a
bitch but it turned out to be even worse. It took me and a friend to
finally get them on by putting a 2x4 inside the front pulley and him
pushing while I pulled to get them started. I had to use a dead blow
hammer to get both pulleys on. There is virtually no play in the belt.
Also, now I can't get the outer plate with the bushing to slide over
the pulley plates. It looks like the pulleys are about 1/8" too close
together. I called BDL and they told me that it is normal for the
pulleys and belt to be that hard to get on. The tech said that once I
get the bike running, the belt teeth will wear into the pulleys and
loosen up a bit. Then I should re-torque the pulleys down and the
outer plate should go on. I'n not an experienced bike builder but this
doesn't sound right to me. I have watched a ton of bike building shows
and it looks like they usually slide right on. Any thoughts besides
that I'm a dick and shouldn't be building a bike?

 

Yeah, go for it ! The tech said it's normal, it's normal. Oh, why don't
you go ahead and video the event just in case me and the tech are wrong.
Everyone loves a good blooper film.