hi all , i'm new here. i have an '82 with a reman 350. after a year and a half and 10k on the engine the head gaskets fail. this was 6 months ago, just getting around to fixing her, almost finished and one stupid thing holding me up, installing the dipstick tube. i see where it goes on the right side of the block but there is no room for it to fit. the exhaust manifold is positioned right in front of the tube hole in the block and the tube will not fit in between
the head and the exhaust. everything else is finished and ready to go, this is crazy, it's the simplest darn thing...

Rob, First off ~~~ Welcome to ECC
I'm confused, If all you changed was Head Gaskets, then the dip stick has to fit. I mean it was there prior to dis-assembly right? I'm not there to see what exactly the issue is, but if it was there prior, and only the gaskets changed, it's got to go back. Not trying to be an adam henry, but it's gota fit, unless it went through some metamorphis - un-likely.
Maybe someone will chime in with an Idea, after all, what do I know.
Good Luck and keep us posted, can't wait to here the issue.

I agree, if you only changed head gaskets, it HAS to fit back in place.
You are not holding your mouth right to get it back into the block!

Is there a metal bracket welded to the tube and does the hole in the bracket line up with the bolt hole in the block?

Dip stick tube goes outside of the manifolds. There should be a small tab to bolt it to the side of the block. You may need to "tweek" the tube to get everything to line up. As long as you have the tube for the correct block it will fit.
By the way, welcome to ECC. Where in AZ are you? I'm in lovely Kingman.

thanks for the advice guys ( i'll readjust my mouth lol ) and yes i feel stupid asking such a stupid question , especially after finishing a much more complex process . sometimes it's the simplest of things...kingman huh? cool man, good ol' phoenix here :)