Had another go today without the spark plugs in and its just to tight to turn over.
So I'm think'n I might take the head off and see if that helps?. Take a few moving parts out of the equation.
Any ideas would be much appreciated
Very frustrating!!!
 
Cheers 
Brad

Did the bottom end turn over OK before the head went on?
Pistons protruding from a shaved block and hitting head?
Cam timing way out, valve/piston contact locking engine up?
 Some ideas just for a start
SFE
 

If its just an engine refresh with new rings and bearings usually the tightness comes from the rings jamming against the bores.
When assembling put a ring in the bore and check for gap.
Piston ring grooves must be cleaned behind the ring, carbon here will jam the new ring against the bore.
Make sure new bearings are same size as old.
Assemble every thing with a coating of oil and turn crank enough to know its not binding.
Honing the bores will cause some resistance but still should start with good battery and starter.
 
Carbon behind the new rings has caught me out once or twice over the years so i thought it was worth mentioning...
 

When we installed the crank we rotated it after each cap was torque down, after the rods and pistons went in it all turned over fine but took more effort. I used the same pistons witch were over size and I got rings to match, all parts were soaked and scrubbed in diesel. I used really thick gear oil on all the parts, I'm leaning towards the rings being the tight spot when you turn it over by hand you kinda feel/hear the rings "cracking" free in the bore and then it will rotate ok just TIGHT. I didn't gap the rings(I think that's the term) where you grind them to fit, I test fitted them and they looked fine no gap but not jammed in there.         

Yes, rings are usually where the tightness is.
The bottom of the ring groove needs to be cleaned with something sharp. Break one of the old rings and use the end to dig out any carbon.
Rings need to be gapped to specs to avoid engine seizure when hot. Check gap with ring sitting in the downstroke position, should be at least 10 thou.
Make sure the middle part of the oil control ring sits end to end and not overlapped.
Rebuild using the recommended engine oil not gear oil.
Dont worry i think all home engine builders have learnt some of these things the hard way.

Thanks for the expertise, looks like we gotta take her apart then. Its a spare engine and my son and his mate are enjoying it, and as a bonus I'm hoping to add two more Escort fanatics  to the world of Escort fanatics.
 
Cheers
Brad