well it is situational, my dad has worked in the auto industry as a mechanic/tech for almost 30 yrs now, I have access to probably well over a 1000 parts I know of, lol, and I can always "borrow" what I dont have from the jaguar test facility he works at.
That being said for the strut bar brace I just hand tighten as much as I can without feeling like I am making it a b**** to get back off, mostly because all you want with this is an assured tight attatchment to both towers so it does actually tie them together and make the chassis stiffer, some bars attatch to the firewall also.
All bolt that go into any part of the engine including valve cover and anything needs to be done with a torque wrench. the 2 I use most are snap-on ones, 1 goes from 5lb/ft to 100+ and the other starts at 15. Also have an impact I can hook to our compresser that I can set the lb/ft on also, rarely use it though(except for lug nuts)
And for that I only use it ont he lug nuts cause it is an impact and makes the job go hella quicker.
All trannie and suspension bolts should be done with torque wrench also.
hmmmm. I need to check my valve cover, wonder if since I put it back on after painting and the gasket has had time to heat and cool a few times now it makes any difference.
we'll see tomorrow morning .