98 Civic LX cant adjust timing far enough to marks

Just tossing this around. My girlfriends 1998 Honda Civic since bought sounded like it was running hard and when i drove it i heard
the classic rattling sound of beinig to advanced under load. Well slapped my timing gun on it and what do you know its about 3
degrees advanced from the furthest timing mark. Now when i loosen the distributor (with car in base timing mode of course) the
thing is turned the furthest retarded it can possibly go. All I can do is advance it further. So guy it was bought from said he and
his cousin replaced the timing belt in his shop. Possibly he did it wrong? Maybe a tooth off is what i'm thinking. Anybody have any
other ideas to try? I'm not big on Honda's quirks, used to more domestic vehicles. If I have to I'm just going to open it up and
check the timing marks myself.