My uncle and I are both building flathead v8s. Neither mine nor his had the fuel pump pushrod with them when we started. He ordered one from speedway but it rattles around in the bushing. I have not ordered one yet because I wanted to see if the speedway rod was made to fit their bushing (smaller than stock?) or if it was made to stock dimensions, meaning his bushing is just worn out. Neither of us have bolted the intake down, and the hole in his bushing looks round to the naked eye, as opposed to oval. Does anyone have a stock 49-53 8ba or 8cm pushrod they can measure with a micrometer or caliper and let me know? Thanks!
Ford made the parts with a real loose fit. There is no oil pressure to the rear cam bearing so no pressure is lost with the loose fit. I believe the 8BA used a bushing with a hole in it to put some oil on the rear bearing.
My old 8 BA rod is pretty ugly,,,,but it still measures fairly close . The length I measured with a tape measure,,,,,,the diameter I used calipers . The length was a little longer on mine,,,,but that could be attributed to the metal tab on the tape being a little loose ,,,,LoL . The diameter checked at .433,,,,which is a few thousandths below 7/16,,,, but,,,still close . These rods did have some clearance,,,,,,but not enough to wobble,,,,they should be fairly snug . Tommy
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