Al,
I understand your problem with the loose bolts. The thing I need to
mention is why would anyone have a main engine external bolt or nut that isn't
safety wired? I plan to wire all my nuts as this will prevent
anything from falling out if a stud does break.
Bill Jepson
Hi Bill,
I used a technique the rotary racing crowd uses to prevent a
stud/bolt from backing out of the engine into the flywheel/flex plate.
A thin sheet of steel (aluminum might do) the area of which covers all
the tension bolts is used to cover the engine tension bolt heads.
This sheet is attached using the using the rear main bearing/gear
support bolts. This sheet prevents any bolt from backing out should it
break. I put a spot of silicone on head of each bolt to dampen any
vibration of the sheet.
I recall at least one incident where a tension bolt
did back out, but fortunately the individual (Perry Mic, I believe) was using
the 35 lb manual flywheel which simply bent the bolt out of the way. A
flex plate may not survive such an encounter.
Ed