Questions - shop manual and torque

[Railroadman]

Well, when I logged back on here, I saw my last activity was May, 2017. The truck project has mostly been dormant since then but I'm back at it so hopefully the process will get some momentum.

Truck is a '66 C20, either 247,000 or 347,000 miles. 283, 3-speed, utility body, originally a railroad truck. Bought it in 1982 for $50, got it going and used it till about 1990. It's been sitting since then, occasionally getting torn further apart. Now comes the "put back together"

I bought the yellow-cover assembly manual and the first thing was to take a pen and number every odd-numbered page in there so things can be found. Next I'll start making a "table of contents" for the parts that apply to me. So first question is: Is this the "go-to" reference or is there another book I should also have?

Second question regards the #2 crossmember. Forgive me if that's not the right term please educate me. This would be the removable one which the suspension connects to. Looks like it's held up by some 1/2" bolts, 3 to each side, and some 3/8" bolts as well. Grade 8 bolts, I understand, and what would the torque values be for those? Usually that would be 80 ft/lbs on the 1/2" bolts. Is it a safe bet that the various values on the truck agree with standard practice, or do they deviate in certain cases? Where do I find what size and grade bolts should be used at other applications?

Thanks in advance!