Crushing

Went in the shop yesterday and was determine to get some engine work
done. List of things to do:

Put loc-tite on the push rod nuts and torque. Check
Replace fuel pump Bake lite base. Check
Assemble pistons and rings. Check
Dress barrel shims per John C's recommendations. Check
Assemble jugs, pistons, heads and push rod tubes.

Here is where the problem occured.

I had everything together, meaning, jugs, pistons, rings, shims, push
rod tubes and seals. Kept working with the tubes till all four were in
place. Got the head nuts started and proceeded to torque all to the
specs. Got through and was looking over the head and noticed that one
of the tubes looked funny as to how it was centered in the head hole.
Took a look underneath and found that the end had popped out of the
block and now was sitting at a 45 degree angle to the block and only
covering half the hole in the block. CRAP!!!

Now, I have to unbolt the head to get this tube back in place. So I
got back according to the torque pattern and loosen everything back up
and the tube will now pop back into place. A little tweeking and it is
straight and all looks good. Retorque and all looks well now.

Then the thinking sets in, I did not remove the tube all the way to
check the end to see how bad the very end may be crimped. It did not
cross my mind at the time. I will take a flash light and look down
into it and see what it looks like. All the seals sit well and it
appears good and straight. Got a good coat of sealant on the seals as
well. Not too much, not to little, just right. Should be a real leak
free seal. But that all maybe for naught if the tube is
crimped.......nuts. If I had only thought about that then. (STUPID)
And these are new tubes as well. Not a big loss I know, but that is
not the point to me. Just a dumb mistake on my part.

Any way, I got half a motor together. I still feel good about that.
It has been tough working in time for the engine as of late. Very hot
and humid the whole time wrenching and it was still a good feeling
working on the VW engine. There is just something deep within that
gets great satisfaction from DIY, whether it is engine building,
woodworking or whatever. I like being able to Do It Myself. (Even if
it gets crossed up sometimes.)