[DeTomaso] I *hate* it when that happens....

[John Buckman]

Mike,

>>Surprisingly, there is no 
>>published torque spec for the pressure plate bolts anywhere in the shop manual

Surprise surprise!!

>>but a search of the internet showed 
>>multiple sources consistently saying that the magic number was 35 ft/lbs, 
>>lubricated.

All of those torque specs that you found are (most likely) for steel flywheels. 35 ft lbs is way too much for the 5/16-18 pressure plate bolts.  Although the pressure plate bolt torque specs vary slightly among the various Ford shop manuals,  5/16-18 calls for 20-25 ft lbs, and 3/8-16 is 25-30 ft lbs (although there is one diesel application that calls for 3/8-16 @ 29-37 ft lbs).

John