first, we have no idea what engine your dealing with ,you then said it turned freely " after we put the crank and caps in" ,so a golf then? and did it turn before you fitted the head (s) ? .
sounds like the sin of towing it around to " free it up " has already been commited from what you say, causing more damage. tell us more..

 

Yeah it's the 1.8 pb 8v engine

Basically when we put the main bearings in and the crank along with the caps it turned ok by hand

Then when we put the big end bearings and caps on it tightened up, but didn't know if this was normal or not, so we proceeded to put the engine in

Then engine didn't really turn when we were pushing it as i had the clutch depressed most of the time, engine probably didn't even turn over once by doing this, so i'm guessing it could be a bit of dirt in a cap or maybe on the bearing?

If the bearings need replacing again i dont mind as i bought anew set of tappets, instead of costing £70 they only cost me £9 :lol: so what savings i made there i guess i'll spend on fixing it

 

no one but you knows what youve done, but youve answered your own question, so sump and bigends out again and check it all, but this time be sure it turns freely
tho...

 

:lol: i seem good at answering my own questions, but thanks anyway