Amsteel to replace wire halyards

[Jak Mang]

I bought a cheap little 70's race boat as a project. The jib halyards are currently 1/4 inch rope to 1/8 inch wire. The wire runs over very small sheaves at the masthead. Two hoists are side by side and it does not look like there is enough room for larger sheaves. The sheave profiles are fairly round. I was thinking of replacing the wire with 1/8 amsteel. The leaders would be end for end spliced to new 1/4 inch double braid with a compatible core. The sheaves would be replaced with new identical ones due to wear and to avoid chafe on the new lines.

There is a similar set up for the spin pole topping lift and a staysail halyard. Here I might be able to cut the mast for a larger sheave but would rather not weaken it. If the above makes sense, I will do the same for these lines.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
-jak