TFS cam and Timing set installation question

I'm putting together a 306 for a buddy of mine. I installed the TFS stg 1 cam and the FRPP timing set today. I installed the short dowel pin into the front of the cam per the instructions. When I installed the large timing gear, I noticed that the dowel pin doesn't engage the timing gear all that much. It seems like the longer dowel pin would have worked better. Has anyone run into this? Am I just being a little too anal here? I'm thinking with the center cam bolt installed there shouldn't be that much force applied to the dowel, but it seems like a longer one would have worked better. And there is no way to remove the dowel once it's installed.

I'll try and get a pic up later today. It only engages the dowel by a little less than a 1/4" or so

This has really been bugging me. I decided that there was something not right, and I was going to start over. By some miracle I was able to get the short dowel pin out of the cam. I then installed the long dowel pin and it fits much better. I had to grind just a tad off of it to get it flush with the timing gear. Just goes to show you can't always go by what the instructions say.