Well, I took a measurement with a 3/8 ball end push rod from an FT. It didnt' looks like it really sat in the seat too well. I did call T&D and they recommended to use a 5/16" ball with their rockers. Out of curiosity, I put some Dykem blue on the ball ends of the 3/8" push rod and put it down in the seat and twisted it a few times. Only a very thin line was marked. I found a 5/16" push rod and made a new tool. I also checked the end with the layout fluid and there was a lot more surface area contact.
I did check all the lifters and rockers for pushrod length. The measurement with the 5/16" push rods lowest was 8.648 and the highest was 8 696. The overall average is 8.675. This was with the adjuster backed up into the rocker body.
One turn on the T&D rocker arm adjuster seems to yeild about .050" travel.
T&D instructions say to measure with the adjuster one turn in from backed up all the way---this is initial position. They also say not to run with more than one turn in or out from the initial position.
The hydraulic lifter preload is one turn. So it makes sense to back off the one turn, then you end up in the initial position.
Now, if I buy push rods for the average of 8.675. Some rockers will have more than zero lash and require up to an extra half a turn, which would be within the specs of T&D's adjustment parameters. Yet, other rockers will have less than zero lash, partially preloading the lifter. With these, I suspect to turn in a half turn to acheive the same amount of lifter preload across the board. This sounds like the best happy medium to me. Or, I could buy several different length push rods---which I don't really want to do.
Now, the question is, do I order push rods with through oiling or no oiling?
thanks,
Mark