Fuel pump assembly locking ring won't thread correctly!!

[Lightrfire]

Hey just wondering if anyone has ever had experience with this. My fuel pump crapped out and I'm trying to reinstall the assembly temporarily until my part comes in so my interior doesn't smell like a gas station and I can't for the life of me get the damn locking ring to thread correctly. It keeps wanting to cross thread no matter how straight or even I try to thread it on. The threads are in good shape, the gasket is straight so what am I doing wrong here? It was installed correctly before I took it off so is the guy who previously installed this garbage Delphi pump Jesus or do I suck that badly at life? Any tips would be appreciated.