Thoughts on Home Combo Limit/NL Tourney

[juris]

I'm going to be in (for me) an unusual house tourney. The first three hours are limit holdem, with increasing blinds, followed by no limit for the duration (with blinds continuing to increase). Approximately 40 players, I'll know well about 1/3. The mix will be from moderately talented to horrible.

I'm planning to spend the first 3 hours in supertight mode, chasing nothing, playing virtually nothing but premium hands. I think the fact that I play so few hands will not be lost when the game turns to no limit, perhaps making some steals earlier from those paying attention, as I kick up the aggression a notch or two as the blinds become more significant. My thoughts on this strategy are that there will be a lot of people playing "any 2 cards" in the limit games, with a series of no folem holdem.

My concern is that with so many people playing loose, whether I should chase with small pairs and suited connectors in the early stages, hoping to hit. We start with 1000, with the limit blinds starting at 5-10 and increasing every 1/2 hour, and I can't rebuy, so I'm thinking this is not a good use of chips and I should muck early (especially early) and often. But then again, I don't want to be bullied as an ultra short stack against 10 or so maniacs who hit it big in the limit portion of the tournament. Perhaps play the baby pairs and connectors in late position only is a good compromise?

Thoughts on my game plan? Other things I should consider? Thanks in advance.