Sorry to hear that. I thought the torque recommended was to high. Back in the old days (70's) we always used a "speeder" socket tool to tighten. In my experience, tightening transmission and oil pans was a visual "touchy feely" thing. As you go around the horn tightening the bolts, watching the gasket "spread" was the way to go. I would imagine if the bolts stripped, the gasket was surely flattened out as well.

It was 165 INCH-POUNDS, not foot pounds. That's about 13 foot pounds. You can get that with one hand on a small wrench. It shouldn't have stripped out anything.

When I removed the transmission pan screws and cleaned them they looked pritty beat up. As for the torque I used, 165 INCH-POUND (1.9 M. KGS).