A guy on another site said "The curve plate is set more torwards the middle now because there was a wear problem under heavy clutch slippage."

My next issue is - when I took the pressure plate off, the pushrod slipped out with it. I then pulled it out of the bearing and I slipped it back and it seems fine. The new plates went in without any problems. The rod was in decent shape and the clutch seems to actuate correctly. Not road tested yet though.

Am I fooling myself? Is this something that should NOT happen?

Also, the curved plate - am I correct in describing it as 'not very curved'... or 'barely curved'?