 
I bent one of my pushrods when putting the head back on. I didn't run the engine, but I did turn it over manually and then with the starter. One of the pushrods was not aligned correctly, and I bent the end. It turns out that Egge has these for five bucks each. They are a wee bit shorter, and a wee bit wider, but they seem to work well:
The Egge pushrod is hollow, which probably makes it more rigid, particularly because it is a bit wider. I suppose it is lighter as well. It feels lighter. One thing I noticed is that I tried to straighten the bent rod. It might look straight, but it didn't spin like the others. It also bent again pretty easily. If I knew metals better, I suppose heating with a torch or something might have made it OK, but it isn't worth it if you can purchase them. Anyway, with the engine running, look at the way the pushrods spin. I made a movie of how they spin:
Click on the picture to watch the movie.
The pushrod on the right is the new one. They spin about a sixth of a turn each time they go up. I really don't know if it should be exactly a sixth or not. Perhaps, because it is a six cylinder engine, but they aren't directly connected anywhere, so I think it varies. It looks like some spin faster. I only mention the spinning because the bad pushrod, even after I tried to straighten it, wouldn't spin. After readjusting the valves when the engine was warmed up, it purrs just like it used to.
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