It looks to me like what you are looking at through the water passage is a new exhaust guide installed and not a push rod.
Bostick(R) was telling me about why it is a challenge to install new guides in factory iron heads and what is actually a cool feature of a BBC. The guides are actually directly water cooled as in the water comes in direct contact with the guide. The guide isn't just pressed into a hole drilled in the cast iron.
I have never actually seen before digging out my heads to look and see what is in your picture. Mine isn't shiny new like, but there it is. If you look at where the push rods are, you will see it can't be a push rod.
The silicon glob, on the other hand, my guess is that those are covering four (two per head) additional head bolts installed after the fact. You should see the same thing in cylinders 2, 3, 6, and 7. I think the block has not been drilled and tapped for the four (two per head) additional head bolts. It is my understanding that if these bolts are not used, the holes should be plugged.
My opinion, I would not want that glob coming loose and passing through my new engine. Might not hurt it, but it's sure not going to help it.
I have never had heads machined for the additional four bolts and not installed the bolts. The four additional head bolts should be 3/8-16 button head or socket head cap screws. There might be pipe plugs installed in the top of the ports for access to torquing them.
I don't know what to tell you about this without opening a can of worms. I'm going to suggest asking the engine builder about the globs, what's under them, and if he has no concerns about them (warranty wise).
Good luck,
Joe
