Yes, those pointers and bands are notoriously inaccurate, especially if they have been replaced….Not all these pieces are the same. Like everyone says, the gears between the tiller and steering handle “may be” misaligned…Same thing applies to the veritcal shaft/steering handle gears. Some of the 56 models had the more flimsy stamped gears between the tiller and steering handle, they are replaced with the newer style cast gear pieces…No need to replace them unless they are worn/misaligned.
But again, if everything is aligned properly, I wouldn’t worry about it, like Frank says….True, that vertical shaft is seems to want to retard the mag plate past its fully retarded position, but that is nothing to worry about, unless there is some other reason that the mag plate won’t retard fully, like jammed wires, links, etc…