Thanks Long-Gone!

Latief I have been thinking, and I figured out your problem(2).

It is very simple. First of all, if you dont install the tensioner, you cannot read timing marks accurately....but you already know that now.

The next problem is actually simple to diagnose, because per your pics; after you rotate to check your marks, the dowel hole in your exhaust cam seems to have moved down equally to your intake cam moving up.

So your cams are timed ok relative to each other, but not compared to the crank.

The most probable culprit is that the slack on your chain is on the driver side when you installed your timing chain tensioner. So when the tension was applied, it pulled both cams counter clockwise to remove the slack on the driver side of your engine.

You really need to focus on getting the timing right AND getting the chain's slack to the passender side simultaneously.

You can use the torx wrench to manipulate the exhaust cam after you're sure about the intake cam (and the lack of slack on the driver side).
Then you should notice the majority (60-80%) of the slack on the passenger side at this point. Don't bother checking the dowel holes, because they will not read properly until the tensioner is engaged and the engine is turned.