Okay guys, here's the update from Pierre at Smith Brothers:
"It appears to be a defect in the rod that we missed during assembly. Not sure its a crack [yet] but its definitely not something I'd want to leave in my engine either."
These guys are first class all the way. I highly recommend them if you need pushrods for your build. The quality is excellent, communication is great and needless to say customer service is A++++
So, talk amongst yourselves.
