Thanks for the reply. I have the push rod in my hand....One end is solid steel, the other end has approximately 1/4" of "brass" at the tip. Looking directly at the push rod the center is steel with the brass encompassing the remainder of the diameter of the rod. (hope that makes sense) Also, the end that has the brass, it has the appearance of being "ground down", not a precise, machined lip as the steel end. Could someone have "locally manufactured" this push rod (ground down one end and added the brass to fill out the end?)for use and it wound up in my engine?? In my opinion the push rod should be machined steel. Correct?