You are definitly on the right track here...
Do you just pull and slightly bend the rod to remove from the hole it is seated in..the way it is bent to the inside of the ss fliptop is pretty tight .
I used a screwdriver, like Ted B suggested, to get ahold of it, and then just kinda flexed it a bit to get it out. The SS rod did not lose its shape and popped back in, when I was done with the clean-up.