Thanks to the very welcome advice of Jim Hockert, Mike Gladwin, Bob Haskell, Richard Ewald, Dallas Congleton and Ken Freese, all of whom made very worthwhile suggestions, I think we have the problem solved. My idea of the tab washers became a non starter when I realized that I would be unable to get a socket on the bolt heads with them in place :-(.
The solution that I have finally settled upon is a combination of recommendations and involves using Loctite, hardened (grade 8 ) washers and lock wire in grooves cut into the side of the cage.
As Richard suggested, it is very likely that the Loctite job that I did between legs in Marystown, Newfoundland, with the lack of a torque wrench, stretching bolts and insufficient time to allow the Loctite to properly set up was almost certainly far from satisfactory.
This time I have used new alloy steel bolts and Loctite 243, an oil resistant grade . As recommended I spent lots of time properly cleaning the threads on the bolts and in the blind holes in the crownwheel before assembly.
Using a modified version of Jim’s recommendation I drilled the bolt heads and, with a cutoff wheel, cut slots between pairs of bolts to accommodate lock wire installed after torquing them to 45 lb ft.
I’m still debating whether or not to use J B Weld to “glue” the lock wire into the slots to preclude the possibility of it slipping out and getting damaged through contact with the carrier….stay tuned.
Again thanks to all who took the time to read my post and recommend solutions to this problem.
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