at one point i did take off the timing cover and rechecked dot to dot and it was on. seemed like it was a little off though because i could not get it to line up perfectly 12 and 6 o clock it was slightly to the right. but moving it a tooth either way was way off. the more i think about it the more im convinced its timing. i'll look around for a collar for the shaft and see what i can find as well.