[Walt Fricke]

VW - if his problem is that somehow there was no sealant in a small area which needs sealant, how would the assembly order make any difference?

Me, I like to put the heads on, then the cam carrier, unless I have taken the whole shebang off as a unit to deal with some issue suspected deeper down. That whole assembly is a bit heavy assembled.

I'm betting on the rocker shafts. Oil in the space which is occupied by the spark plug up top, and would have a spark plug if twin plugged down below, can get to that area, can it not? Where oil drips off is often not where it came from.