273 intake/valve cover bolt torque

I haven't torqued anything down yet. Intake is painted, valve covers getting painted tomorrow morning or tonight, then reassembly Saturday! It is cast iron.

Well curse me for not having an IN-lb torque wrench. since 270 IN-lbs is 22 ft-lb, could I safely hand-tight them, snug them gently with a wrench, then maybe start at 10 ft lb, snug them all down, then 15, then 20, then 22?

I think for the valve cover I'll do it the way I was planning, and t-stat housing I didn't measure, just eyeballed it and didn't tighten it too much.