I'm shocked your engine still has Champions in there...wow. expensive and a royal PITA to find and honestly not worth the trouble to look for, with Bosch & NGK both makng plugs at least as good if not better than the champions.
I gap to spec 0.27 with a Gap Pliers Tool that gently squeezes every electrode exactly the same. With good wires & mixture set correctly you don't need to play gap games.
I use a small amount of anti-sieze on the threads, dab on the finger tip and spin onto the threads.
I think torqueing plugs is dangerous and installs them to tight. I have used the same procedure for 30 yrs without a single incident, start by hand, run them down with a 3/8ths ratchet until snug, then 1/4 to 1/2 turn...to squish the sealing washer.
I firmly believe in feel for loosening & tighening on many fasteners....admittedly feel takes practice and experience and the "ability to feel correctly" {
}...but for cam covers, plugs, other small or delicate fastners a torque wrench can easily be to much leverage for a small nut or bolt, plus...how many torque wrenches are really accurate at the lowest end of their range? or calibrated even once a decade? So a miss calibrated torque wrench can burn you on the little stuff very easy. Now if you're using a 1/4 in., Inch Pounds Torque wrench on the little stuff (like I do) then that's different, much smaller tool, much less leverage to get carried away with and better "feel" on small fastners.
HTH's
