Excuse me brianrupnow, but I was assuming we were discussing how to get the distributor meshed to the cam gear in the only one “location” where the mesh of the gear is CORRECT in relationship to where the timing pointer is located as you stated.
Not put the distributor in just anywhere then move the plug wires in their WRONG locations to get the car to run fine. The rest of your procedure is correct with one exception. If done correctly the rotor should be pointing to the terminal closest to the front of the engine slightly towards the PASSENGER side, not the DRIVERS side.
(see diagram posted by DennyW).