
I don't understand what you are doing wrong.
The only thing I can deduce is that you wound the locking nut down to the very bottom of the thread on the gearstick and THEN installing the knob itself onto the locking nut, then continue to turn the nut and knob further down the thread, forcing it in hopes that it will face the right way.
Tell me if this is what you are doing:
1) install locking nut onto gearstick, with flange facing upwards
2) wind locking nut as far as you can down toward the end of the thread
3) install gearknob and wind it down to the locking nut
4) wind the knob up or down until "H" pattern faces correctly
5) turn locking nut until it locks the gearknob in place
And as for question C, why not just borrow a tap and dye set from someone and do it yourself? 3 minute job.