@Ian: Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. It shouldn't make any difference which direction the crystal is oriented. Unfortunately the problem is something else.

@Sha: I usually just do trial and error until I find a good value. One method to help you make an informed guess is to take the value of the original pitch resistor. Lets say it's 50k. The high end pitch buffer is usually a quarter of that value although it will vary from circuit to circuit.