Dave, I don't see at all how your explanation of caster adjustment can work, and it seems crystal clear to me that you have six big washers on the upper through bolt that would be used to shift the top of the A-arm back if you shifted them to the front. If you turn one rod end in and the other out you're going to create mis-alignment of the through bolt through the rod ends, and tend to impart a "twist" to the spindle as opposed to a "tilt" which is what caster is - the degrees that the spindle tilts back from true vertical. It's obvious that I'm not understanding your problem, or not understanding your explanation of what you're doing so I'm going to back away and wish you the best on your build. I'll not bother you further.