Timing Gear Aligning Mark

[Bill Lee/Virginia]

I have a knock in my Speedster engine that I can't locate or diagnose. The bronze timing gear I purchased and installed had a very shallow aligning mark so I enlarged it quite a bit to feel the timing mark easily.

Does the thrust spring mechanism ride on the timing gear circle where the aligning mark is located?

Did I ruin the bronze gear by drilling the hole deeper?

Is it immaterial how deep I drilled the hole in the bronze timing gear?

Bill Lee/Virginia Peninsula