Got my GTI back from VW of the Woodlands. Verdict was somehow I got the timing chain/cams off by two teeth advanced, and the timing belt off one tooth retarded. I certainly feel retarded, but in my defense it is not easy to get the cams in time without the special tool, and the timing belt timing I've addressed in a separate post.
The take home from this is that you need to know when you are at the limit of your ability/talent/whatever and call in a pro.
Car running great - and I found out the original owner bought it and maintained it at this dealer. The service writer was kind enough to print out some of the service history of the car up to 120k miles in 2015 when the original owner traded it in.
It has a recent air conditioning compressor, pcv valve, intake valve runner (IMRAC?) motor, and a few other bits and pieces. This makes the 2nd owner - the guy I bough it from - look really bad as he took a VW dealer maintained car with 120k miles and really fucked it up in 1-2 years and 15,000 miles before I bought it.