I've got to wonder about firing order too. With *most* cars the firing order is clockwise, only engines with cam gears like the B16, B18, and B20 have it counterclockwise. It's a common mistake.

Secondly RJ, the actual angle of the distributor drive gear is not as important as simply having the rotor point at the correct tower of the distributor cap at the correct time. The only problem you might experience if the gear angle is wrong, is interference of the distributor with the block when trying to turn it to set timing. It won't prevent you from starting at all.

One more thing, are you certain the drive gear is seating in the oil pump? If it's not, it will be "high" and the distributor won't seat fully. Then when you rotate the engine, the flat on the gear drops into the slot of the pump, and changes your timing, Tne while cranking it can rise up and down and give variable timing. Just see if the distributor seems to be fully seated. If it is, you are fine there.