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Got the pushrods. Interesting one is longer than the other.. No biggie. I seem to remember one being adjusted longer than the others. Either way they all will fit. They don't use a compression nut but just a regular 5/16-24 so 2 1/4 turns instead of 3. They weight almost exactly the same as the stock ones, within a gram.
Here you can see the out or round of the pushrod end. They are supposed to be 15/64 radius. The new ones might be a couple thou smaller but they math the gauge well.
I was going put it back together but you are right I should check em. I was over on hydro-glide.net and saw that the top caps are made of brass and not bronze. I'm pulling all the rocker blocks to see how they wear. The first appears OK.
As far as the radius goes they are the same. You can see where the older pushrod was hitting on the outside edge... I used a bronze colored sharpie, marked a line across the end, stuffed the VT pushrod into rocker running it with a drill. Obviously the parts need to run in but the contact looks good. I think I'll debur the oil hole.
I pulled the other rocker blocks and examined. They all looked better than the 1 above. I got to thinking (dangerous). The pushrod issue is the reason why the pushrod tubes were filling up. The fit on the rocker socket was so bad that a bunch of oil was leaking out and filling the tubes. Remember this?
All the rocker sockets had a thin line like the one shown above.. With the contact ring way out on the outside edge and the pushrods not having a nice even radius on the end, I'd bet they were leaking a bunch. It's another reason why I've had the pushrod tubes weeping oil.
Back to motor assembly. I guess it was a good thing I installed the pistons backwards.
FWIW, it's a good reason to reinstall pushrods back in their original spots. It's also worthwhile to check the pushrod ends to make sure the radius is still good.
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