Oh man, that line about the marks looking right but being off a tooth hits home. I did a belt on my old Accord and had the exact same loud tap right after. Scared me to death. I had to go back and count the teeth between the marks on the cam and crank with a paint pen, like every single one. It was a pain but it was off by one.

That's just how all real fixes work.

I mean, I get the idea but I've done hundreds of garages with a power trowel and never had a dusting problem. You just have to time it right and not hit it too early. Skipping it and going by hand sounds like a ton of extra work for no real gain. Maybe it's just me but I think that old school method leaves a softer finish that doesn't hold up as well to cars and salt. A good power finish is way harder in the long run.