Bolted my beetles new engine together last weekend. As soon as the case halves were torqued, the crank wouldn't turn. Convinced myself my new crank must be bent, and walked away from it for a couple days. Pulled it all back apart today and found one main bearing had turned just enough to not sit on the dowel pin. Can't believe I managed to do that. I feel frustrated with myself but relieved it wasn't worse. Just thought I would vent a little.
In reply to rustyvw :
Experience is what we gain from making mistakes. Now you are more experienced. Hooray learning!
I hand tighten one at a time and check that things still spin,
then torque one at a time checking after each.
I wrecked a single piston ring the first time I built an engine and I had to buy an entire new kit to replace it. It was the last piston and I decided to just force it when there was a little resistance instead of double checking that everything was seated properly. I felt really stupid in the moment, but it was a relatively cheap reminder to take my time! It sadly isn't the first or last time I've broken something by working to quick though.
I have two sets of sbf main bearings that are new except for a damaged thrust bearing. Can’t recall how I did it but it was operator error when I replaced them in situ I just did a full rebuild and, of course, had to order another set.