There should be some play with that timing cover if I remember right. I would always tighten the bolts a little so you could move it. Then manipulate it so it is flush with the block.
If you don't have the dowels get them, they go around the lower bolts. You can see where the belong by looking at the block/timing cover. With out the dowels it is hard to get a perfect alignment with the oil pan...last thing you want is a leak. A local machine shop may have them.. They are just like the dowels that are for the head gasket/head.
Two things -
1. The location of the timing cover is determined by the front seal. The nose of the crank should be centered in the seal to avoid leakage later. The bottom of the block may or may not line up perfectly. Once you are happy with the location of the seal, use some silicone when you install the pan to bridge the gap.
2. If the dots on your cam were off (both at top), you would just turn the crank one complete revolution and they would line up... since the cam turns at half the rate of the crank. Both dots at the top would indicate that the #1 cylinder was at TDC on the exhaust stroke, not the compression stroke...
As long as they were referenced properly (both on top, or pointing together, you are good to go. Sorry to hear you already took the timing set off to correct. No worries though.
well i fixed the timing chain cover. its perfect on the drivers side and maybe 5-10 thousands on the other side from a cover imperfection. ill put a little rtv on it before the oil pan goes on.
lower dot to upper dot is still ok though right?
i looked this post up again to ask another question on my lifters. they were pre-oiled like i said and all fit good now. this is what im wondering about.
i turn it over manually, and the lifters rise, some fall back down on there own and some dont. they require a little push to fall back down against the cam. not alot of pressure, i would say about a pound resistance, just a little push with a finger. is it ok for some to have more resistance over the others? just a slight difference in the bore? i know the pushrods would move them down, but should there be any resistance period?
sorry if some of these questions are no big deal. i cant afford to look over anything and have a problem with this engine. just making sure i go over everything that raises a flag to me. thanks