I had this problem. After removing enough bits too look down the hole, I could see the edge of the hole in the bearing overlapping the push rod hole by about 1/16". The bearing needed to rotate slightly to align I found a long bolt that matched the push rod diameter (3/8"), cut the thread off, and ground a flat on the shank. I carefully sized it to just drop through the bearing hole. Then with a socket on the end of the bolt I carefully turned it, forcing the bearing to rotate into alignment. It was a gamble that worked for me. Looking down the hole afterwards I could not see any sign of metal shavings or swarf. It appeared bearing turned neatly in its housing. Certainly much quicker than pulling the engine and dismantling everything. Garpo
Good that you did not change the push rod diameter. It would then leak oil pressure off there. The fuel pump rod passes through an oil gallery. If you go electric you need a filler in that hole. I wont explain how I know this. LOL.
When I had my flathead rebuilt the rear cam bearing was pushed a small bit toward the rear and the pushrod did not contact the cam. I had to take it back to the engine shop to have fixed Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
if it did come to turning it down in a lathe .i was just removing material from the bottom inch or so of the rod ...i think it would have been ok ?
So cool! I dont know anywhere near as much about flatheads as I would like. Can you please tell me about the cyclone heads? Cheers, Josh