Torque on these items is generally not critical and I would advise not to torque to them to published values for the following reasons.
Old fasteners may have fatigued over time and torquing them may actually stretch, break or strip them.
I have in the past stripped small fasteners while using a torque wrench because I was watching the dial on the wrench and ignored the fact that the torque value was not increasing while I continued to turn the fastener.
When using a torque wrench you tend to focus on the torque wrench and ignore the warning signs of a failing fastener.
The added length of the torque wrench reduces the feel required to tell when bad things are happening.
When you hand tighten a fastener you can tell if & when the fastener starts to fail, strip or stretch and stop. I have found torquing small fasteners to be rather risky because of the age/fatigue issue and also incorrect factory published torque values.
Torque values may specify clean dry or lightly oiled threads; this makes a huge difference in the tension of a fastener.
I've worked on everything from Mercedes & BMW's to motorcycles, tractors & trucks, I also use high quality Snap-on torque wrenches.
Having a torque wrench is an essential part of doing a good job but sometimes you need to feel what is happening as you tighten that screw!
If you have absolutely no idea of how to detect a failing fastener and insist on using a torque wrench I would torque to 50% but no more than 75% of the published value to avoid the above mentioned problems.
Some fasteners are inaccessible to torque wrenches but you can calibrate yourself by tightening a test fastener with a hand wrench then use a torque wrench to verify the torque value on the item.
The smaller the fastener the smaller the margin between tight & over tightened (stripped).
Hope this helps!
PS Do not use that torque wrench on the exhaust manifold
tim
