yeah damn it, wouldnt you know it, it was the gauge playing up.
swapped gauges around and the bov line showed 9psi, while my factory nipple showed 8psi (with gauge B).
so gauge B was giving a false reading.
i shouldve tried this first, but i didnt imagine the gauge would all of a sudden give a false reading, after reading consistently for so long.
anyways, let that be a lesson to me.
good news, there's no leak
thanks for the help