I understand what you are saying. So to confirm then, the dot should be at 12 exactly when the piston hits tdc on the upstroke rather than the downstroke (there is about an 1/8th of a crank turn before the piston starts its decent from tdc after hitting it on the way up.)

I took the cam gear out and redid the setup. Basically, the intake vavle opens exactly when the piston starts its decent from tdc and, conversely, the exhaust valve finishes closing when the piston hits tdc on the upstroke.

There is a notch on my drive washer that I used to set tdc originally that I assume was there when it was manufactured and it seemed to line up inbetween the upstroke tdc and downstroke tdc (i.e. half of the 1/8th turn) but maybe that is just a coincidence?

Basically the dot is now at 12 o'clock versus 11:30 my old way.

Thanks Dave!

John