Is this just a push rod tube seal gone bad? I need to take the cylinder head off to fix this right? Do I need any special tools to put it back together? I have a Haynes manual but to be honest I guess I'm just looking for assurance that I'm not about to turn my car into a permanent lawn ornament. Or perhaps some advice that would help prevent the same.

you do NOT need to remove the head to replace a pushrod tube (or its seals...) in a T-IV. one of the truly good things about that design.

one nice thing about the VW, i mean Porsche, Type IV engine is the push rod tubes can be removed with engine installed in car and without taking off the head. somewhat of an easy job. you must/should bring the cylinder you are working on to TDC, then you can remove the rocker arm since the valve springs will not be under tension. pushrod tube is then pulled out. don't destroy the pushrod tube until you are sure it can be completely removed from the head in the event of some clearance problem, you don't want to have a bent up tube left in the head with the engine in the car!

by the way, if the tube is not leaking, why change it? if you are worried about the long thin dent in the tube, you could rotate it to locate the dent at the top, but then you would risk the integrity of the push rod tube seals and start them leaking. the tube is just an oil return anyway and it appears not to be leaking.

Do you know how those two tubes were dented like that?

You can remove the pushrod tubes without removing the heads. In the past I've changed out the tube seals with the engine in place. You remove the valve covers, the pushrod tube retainer spring clip, then the rocker assembly and pushrods. Now the tubes can be drawn out through the head. It takes a little muscle. You may need to use some channel lock pliers to twist them a bit if they are frozen in place at the seals. A little scrap rubber or similar can be used to pad the jaws to reduce damage to the tubes. Breaking the old seals free can be a knuckle buster so try to be patient and careful.

Type47 and MAF914,
I honestly didn't even know that everyone elses pushrod tubes did NOT have that dent. So no I have not a clue as to why mine do.

Also, the engine does have an oil leak. See the push rod tube associated with Cyl #3 near the oil filter. By the way, the engine is on a stand right now so I can do all the damage I want to it now.

Do you guys think all this oil is coming from push rod tube?

Considering the amount of oil and damage to the tube it sure looks like a leaking seal.

Are there are seals in that area that I should look to replace as well. The engine seems to be its own Oil Rig. If I could just figure out a way to cap it, I may be able to cut our relance on foreign oil in half!

that's right under the oil cooler - but it's actually faster and easier to R&R the engine to replace the cooler seals than it is to do with the engine in (say the people who've done it both ways ...)

unless you have a reason to suspect you're seeing oil dripping from the cooler area above, just clean the area, replace what you can see id obviously wrong, and the address what's left another time. there will always be another time ...

Wow, my writing sux, so much for typing classes

value judgement call.

trying to replace oil cooler seals with the engine in the car is a truly disagreeable task; it will never be easier than it is now. OTOH - i do not know how much of the induction or other stuff on top you have to remove to get at the cooler - someone with actual T-IV experience will have to chime in on that. but it's always a good idea to make sure the top of the cooler, cylinder fins, and cylinder heads are clear of debris before trying to put an engine into service - the fins and your primary cooling system and it's sometimes amazing just how much crap and debris can accumulate up there.

but i don't know what kind of rush you are to get the car back in service, so there are tradeoffs. there are those who'd replace all the pushrod tube seals and the oil cooler seals (and some others - like the oil strainer, the taco plate, the oil filler ...) as long the engine is accessible. that sounds a bit excessive but it'll probably take you less time to do them all with the engine out than any one of them with the engine in ...