I just have a question regarding head cover torque I have it torqued to 6 ft pounds is there a sweet spot between 6 and 8.8 ft pounds? Or do you suggest to hit the 8.8 ft pounds? Also the head cover o ring gasket that looks like a tear drop had a little bend / hump in it at the tail is this normal or signs of it wearing out? Any advice much appreciated. Thanks.

Dave is smarter than me, but I went for the high end of the torque range.  I cleaner the bolts with a wire brush and some motor oil before installing.  Clean oiled bolts probably lowered the effective torque by 15-20%, so my final torque was something less than the maximum spec.  Similar to what Dave said, I use a 1/4” short ratchet with my thumb on the drive.  My wrist/hand strength without arm pulling yields about 7-8ft lbs.  I double checked and went around the horn with a digital 3/8” torque wrench rated up to 38ft-lbs.  There are a couple bolts that I couldn’t get the torque wrench on due to space limitations.  Those got left “good enough” after a quick double check with the 1/4” ratchet.

My wonky shaped o-ring was out of its normal wonky shape and I replaced it.  I didn’t want to have to go through a second surgery for a bad o-ring.  

Good luck!  You got this!

PS - I used a teenie tiny tab of sealant on that o-ring to make sure it didn’t try to move.  Let it set about 20 minutes while getting everything else prepped.