Tapered stern tube?

Has anybody ever heard of a stern tube that has tapered inside dimensions? I am the owner of IP38 #83. Currently on the hard in Trinidad. I am working on replacing the cutlass bearing. I was able to remove the stern tube with the cutlass bearing inside of it, without pulling the prop shaft. I was hoping that it would be a simple matter to press out the old cutlass bearing and install a new one. To my surprise, I discovered that the stern tube appears to have a tapered inside dimension. The stern tube is 11 inches long. The aft end of the stern tube has an outside diameter of 2", and an inside diameter of 1-3/4". Thus the wall thickness is 1/8". The forward end of the stern tube also has an outside diameter of 2", but an inside diameter of 1-9/16"! So it's tapered to be slightly narrower at the forward end. I have never heard of this type of stern tube. Is it possible to buy a tapered cutlass bearing to fit inside this? Or does the need one need to be machined down to fit the stern tube? Has anyone else encountered this?

OK, I must have had a brain fart when I came up with this post. I figured out that stern tube is not tapered, obviously. It is bored out to a larger diameter on the aft end to create a seat for the cutlass bearing. Now if I can just get the old one out of the tube. I think I will need a trip to the machine shop.