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I'd like to say that the one bolt that had worked loose and fallen out in mine was too long to be re-inserted easily. It was also bent 90 degrees when I too found it in the bottom of the crankcase. This suggests to me that the bolts are supposed to be inserted while the left side cam bearing cap is removed thus giving one the access to insert the longer bolts. The lack of a stud proper means that someone has been in there and fixed the long bolt access problem with short bolts, just as I did on mine. I'm thinking now that one should at least go to a higher grade of bolt and apply very high torque to them in an attempt to keep them in there as there is obviously a problem with them working loose and falling out. JD used some cheap insurance in this regard by making one of the bolts used for this attachment a stud so that at least it would still run. I do not believe in lockwashers or their purported abilities to keep a bolt from turning out. Good torque and a properly sized bolt for the job will work much better in that regard, be it grade 3, 5, or 8, in my opinion. The locking system used originally was a flat sheet of mild steel that was bent up and chiseled up against the flats of the bolt head to prevent it from turning out. Obviously, if they are not chiseled up right, they don't work very good, and the best method to use this type of locking method would be to purchase and use a new one. And that would require removing the cam to do that. You seem to missing that along with the stud as you didn't mention either, so there is a pretty good chance that you will be doing this again someday. I hope to go back into mine with aluminum pistons for some higher horsepower as she's just a tad shy of what I want to do (8 foot noble sweep in 2nd). When I do that I will go with the longer grade 8 bolts for the cam to gear attachment as well as some other areas for grade 8 bolts (head and flywheel). That was a quick turn around!! A very busy Saturday for sure - good job.
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