OK!!! Now we're getting somewhere! Once I knew what to look for (and realizing that the ring gear needed rotated to find it) I removed the retaining bolt holding the 3/4" shaft (this required an 8mm socket) and the pin/shaft slid right out easily. However, the ring gear had to be rotated 90 degrees to have the opening in the right place to see and remove the "C" clips that holds the axles. I was concerned about the pinion gears moving out of place so I slid a dummy shaft of wood about 1/2" in diameter in it's place before rotating the ring gear 90 degrees. The one axle bumped in easily and spit out the "C" clip just like food after preforming the Heimlich maneuver on a choking victim. The other side was not as easy and required a C-clamp on the axle flange and tightening securely before smacking the flange with a 4 lb. hammer. This caused the axle to jump in 1/4" and out popped the other "C" clip. I very carefully removed each axle being sure not to damage the axle seals, then I replaced the dust shields (the actual reason for all this work), installed the parking brake shoes, and then reattached the parking brake cables, and then carefully reinstalled the axle shafts, replaced the "C" clips, pulled the axles back out the 1/4" and finally replaced the 3/4" lock pin/shaft that holds everything in place. I took my time and everything went quite smoothly. I will clean up the cover and get some gasket adhesive before bolting up the cover. I plan on waiting at least 24 hours for the gasket to dry and seal before installing the Mobil 1 75W-90 synthetic gear oil.

Thanks slowroll for all your help...