canon pinion mod problems

[RickHiC]

I recently acquired a very nice 183 with slightly recessed canon pinion. No problem, I searched around here (although The Zigmeister's comprehensive canon pinion guide has apparently been pulled; any links to it are dead) and got what I thought I needed.

Ordered up the eta parts from cousins uk (new 2.15 mm hour wheel, 3.15 mm canon pinion (6497-3 240 and 250 part numbers I believe off the top of my head).

Anyway, I pulled things apart and noticed the old canon pinion looked an awful lot like the new one. Did the new install anyway, and darned if it's not still recessed. I pulled it apart and measured everything with a digital caliper and both the old and new wheel and pinion are 2.15 mm and 3.15 mm exactly. I installed again and pressed everything down (sandwich dial to movement, hands to pinion) very firmly. I can't see any kind of dial gap from the side with a loupe. I even sanded the minute hand down a tiny bit and reinstalled, but the pinion is still recessed.

Any thoughts? I suppose I could remove the dial and try to sand the back of either/both dials down .25 mm or so, but that will be very tricky to do evenly, and I don't want to damage the tiny mounting studs. Looking at the hands, it doesn't look like I have much room at all on the above dial side (hour hand is bent slightly up and still barely clears seconds at 9). About how far should the hands stand above the dial? I suppose I need to post a pic for experts to judge. I'll try to see if I can capture one. Then maybe folks can tell if I can realistically sand the hands more, or if I need to do something else.