Toyota Repair: Tacoma Cam Cap Bolts, head gasket, torque wrench

Question
Hi. I have a 1997 Toyota Tacoma 2wd 2.4l manual transmission. The original head cracked so I am changing it out with a new one. I installed the new head gasket and got the head torqued down in the correct order and torque. When I went to torque the camshaft bearing caps I set my torque wrench to 12ft lbs and on the first 2 bolts it clicked but on the next couple the bolts they just kept going. I know enough to stop turning before they get too stripped. The head casing isnt an OEM one but the valves are. I called the shop and was told to torque them at 8ft lbs instead so I did. A couple of the bolts clicked at 8ft lbs but barely. I am not sure what to do now. It seems the bolts might not be torqued securely enough to keep the caps on with the threads possibly being damaged. It also seems like the head should be of better quality so that I could use the proper torque spec. 8lbs might not be enough. I was thinking of trying longer bolts. Should I push the shop for a different head? What do you think?

Answer
I believe the factory spec is 8-10 ft/lbs, you can try to find longer bolts, that could work or you could apply a thread locking compound like Loctite or you could use a thread repair kit like Heli-Coil, the kits are available at most autoparts stores and are fairly easy to use.