Success! Thanks to the good advice in this forum, I've finally learned how to adjust a 3-pc bottom bracket correctly (and only, what, 10 or 20 years after they became obsolete )

I repacked my bearings today, and everything looked shiny and new. I didn't have to replace even a single ball. Thanks very much to the forum and everyone who gave advice in this thread last Fall, especially FB.

I've got a new problem now (chainring wobble), but I guess I should post that in a new thread with a new title.