Easiest thing to do is when you have a loose adjuster, take it out and whack the threads with a hammer (not hard just a small hit) they will be tight again, gunsmiths do this when a barrel threads in to far, they call it peening.  

Thanks Cliff I’ll keep that in mind.

Can anyone tell me- where can I get tubular pushrods online? I got this set from Mummert but I just need 1x and dont really want to bother them for 1x pushrod.


Thanks, Dennis.

56 F100 - 272 Y Block
NSW, Australia.

Not by you, but a guy on e-bay sellers singles. Smith Brothers in Oregon in USA has been making mine since 1960's. One day turnaround and you just need the length. They will know how he ends.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

Just wanted to follow up this one, i noticed something interesting.

When I pulled the heads off an dismantled the rockers, I noticed the adjuster balls were not all the same on the head which dropped 3 pushrods. I also heard that the tubular pushrods I have were “eating up the adjuster balls”.

Anyway, I got 16 new adjusters and 16 New chrome moly pushrods.

8x adjusters- some have more of a point rather than a ball.


Showing differences in adjusters- left 4 were on head next 2 are new and last one is original interference thread


New Chrome moly, what was existing and factory pushrod top to bottom (both pics)




I have new head studs, fresh reconditioned heads new pushrods, adjusters and a freshly modified intake manifold so hopefully everything is good and the universe lets me have a win this round😁.


Thanks, Dennis.

56 F100 - 272 Y Block
NSW, Australia.

Very interesting, I've never seen different ball sizes. A friends 61 engine had push rods like the one in top of your picture, I was told buy someone that 61-64 engines had those tubular push rods, don't know how true that is. I bought a set like the one in the center and the cups were to small and cracked soon after the engine ran. They were made by Sealed Power and they refused to believe they were too small when I contacted them and refused to deal with me because I bought them on Ebay. I just bit the bullet and threw them in the trash.
I ended up using the stock solid ones.
Good luck with your set up.

The pushrod in the middle is probably from that bad batch of pushrods that was made years ago.  The cup even looks significantly smaller than the other two.  The cup either cracks and breaks or the adjuster screw wears.

The adjuster screw ball should be spherical.  The pointy appearance could be an illusion due to the way that they are machined or manufactured.  If it is not an illusion, I would not use them.  Pointy is not what you want to use.


Lawrenceville, GA

It seems to me there was a discussion, maybe a couple of years back, about odd size cups and odd sized balls on adjusters with aftermarket parts.The cups were smaller and the aftermarket adjuster balls were smaller so there was a problem in mixing up original parts with the aftermarket parts i.e using factory adjusters with the aftermarket push rods resulted in broken cups.

Any one remember this?

About  a year two back I bought a set of pushrods from Schuman.  The cups were smaller that the stock rockers I was using so I never used them.  I was able to get some pushrods (aftermarket) locally that were ok.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

The general conclusion was that they had used cups for a Mopar. But close wasn't close enough. You can check the cup fit against the adjusters while you have them out. They should fit firmly all the way around and under.

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

The pointy end is no illusion. Theses tubular pushrods were purchased by me only 2-3 years ago and haven’t even seen 5 hours run time, same goes for the 8x adjusters.

Moving forward, I have new gear from JM so the old stuff will be scrapped.

I’ll check the new adjuster/cup fit.
It’s always interesting learning about these little issues.

Just a heads up for anyone running these pushrods- This is the pushrod that is reportedly “eating up” adjuster balls SBI 190-1543



Thanks, Dennis.

56 F100 - 272 Y Block
NSW, Australia.

right on,if you tighten the jam nut (light  tight) the jan nut is the best way. i rest the valves 1time pr year of lots of use and have never had a jam com loose. we have all forgot or not cinched  the jam while holding the skrew with good screwdriver






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