SOLVED!....sort of. Where's there's spark.. there's no fire!

wnjj is correct. The rusty part in the photo is what I had my channels on.

However, I was already aware of the advance when I was torquing. I was torquing the other way. So when torquing... there was no turn/advance. I was just concerned that I didn't have a hold of the real shaft that would be directly connected to the gear. Sounds like my concerns were legitimate.

In my case, the rest of the photo isn't, perfectly indicative. There is little else to grab on to above the "rusty" part.