I agree that for basic instruction a wingover should be started downwind to end up into wind - but this is only to highlight that in a strong wind you must be aware of your airspeed if you roll out downwind; most cock-ups occur because the pilot thinks his high groundspeed is a good indication of airspeed and mushes towards the ground, then pulls back on the cyclic which washes more airspeed off and he crashes.
For 180 wingovers a good check is that by the time you get to the apex, you should be at least halfway round the turn (horizontally speaking). Another killer is not to achieve this 'gate' and try to achieve the roll out heading by overbanking and pulling harder - this fills the windscreen with green and is often terminal.
Trevor - a 180 and 270 wingover start the same but with a 270 you go 90 degrees further round (horizontally) before rolling out and the same safety tips apply.
A torque turn is usually done by pulling to the vertical (lowering the lever if possible once you are there) and, as the speed drops towards zero, pull power without compensating with power pedal so the torque reaction yaws the aircraft through 180 degrees in the vertical plane - then just fly out.
Doing it the other way round using power pedal (called a pedal turn) to yaw is often more comfortable as you use non-power pedal to stop the turn when you are pointing at the ground and thus avoid torque spikes.