The only times I ever damaged pushrods or other valvetrain components was because of inadequate clearances somewhere. And that includes dirt-track racing Pontiac engines with some crazy combinations of "stock" components matched with high-lift cams running under brutal operating conditions. I guess that if valves are adjusted too tight or loosen up it could possibly cause damage though I've never had that happen to me.
You really can't be sure that everything is OK by turning the engine over by hand with hydraulic lifters. The lifters collapse under the spring pressure so you will not get "full lift" as you rotate the engine. When I am assembling I use a light test spring on a few of the valves just to be sure. That said, I would not expect any clearance problems with the 60242 cam and 1.52 rockers except maybe on a 326/350 and that depends on the heads used.
Hoping that one of the engine build experts chimes in. I've built a bunch over the years, but just for my own use so I can hardly say that I've "seen it all."
As far as what replacement pushrods to use- in the old days with that cam I would just buy good stock replacements and not think twice about it. But we are all a lot more conservative these days and a lot of the replacement parts aren't as good as they used to be. I would probably go with something that I at least recognized the name- Melling or something like that.
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1969 Lemans vert, matador red, 462 CI, 3.07 12-bolt posi
1974 455 TA, admiralty blue/red interior HPP "cover car" - sold
"The best way to show a car is to drive it"
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