Be sure you're using the right cylinder for checking TDC. When the #6 cylinder is at the split overlap position, #1 is on compression, ready to fire. The front cylinder on the driver's side is #1- - - -#6 is the third cylinder back on the passenger's side. Get #6 "rocking"- - -intake opening and exhaust closing, then time the distributor to fire #1. Companion cylinders that come to the top at the same time:

1 8 4 3
6 5 7 2

When #1 is on compression, #6 is on overlap. Ditto for 8 & 5, 4 & 7, and 3 & 2.

It sounds like you've done everything right except you've got the engine timed to fire at the top of the exhaust stroke- - - -not good!
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!