Engine Steady rest bent
 

I just had something unexpected happen and I am not sure why. About a year ago, I removed the engine and transmission and pretty much everything in the engine compartment to have some metal work and paint done. I put everything back in and the car has been running smooth but the exhaust was an issue. I just had all the pipes replaced by a muffler guy and when I picked up the car, he told me he noticed the steady rest mount that attaches to the frame on the driver's side had come off the frame. He ground off the rivets and re attached the mount to the frame. I drove it home and it seemed everything was running great and smooth. I opened the hood to take a close look at the mount and noticed the actual steady rest rod was pretty well bent. I was pretty careful on my measurements when I put the engine back in and attached the rests to the engine but I am wondering if I had it off balance slightly or if the passenger side was pushing on the drivers side. Has anyone seen the happen or have any idea what the cause could be and how to make sure I avoid this happening again?

The steady rest on the passenger side is perfectly straight.

Do you remember if the trans mount and the front mount were fully tightened before installing the steady rests. If not, the engine/trans may have been slightly askew and when fully tightened moved the engine a bit putting pressure on that side. Long shot, I know.

Straighten or replace the bent rod, reinstall and check it. It think there is a procedure on setting them up -check the shop manual.