Thermostat housing gaskets?

[Iceni John]

I took one of my thermostats out last night to check it  -  there was no gasket at all between the upper and lower halves of the thermostat housing!   Should there be?   There's no indication that either housing has ever leaked there.   Do the thermostats' lower flanges seal the housings, or do I need to use some Permatex or RTV or something there?   The Detroit service manual talks about gaskets there, but I only have some old hardened black stuff on each surface.

I've ordered two new 180 degree Weir-Stat 23503825 thermostats, exactly the same as my present ones, but they don't come with new seals.   Does NAPA sell these seals?

Thanks, John   

[luvrbus]

They have a gasket and Napa sells both the seals and gaskets if you have a problem drop me a PM and I will mail you a set scrape around the gasket will be there hard as the steel

[Iceni John]

OK, good to know, I'll go to NAPA tomorrow and get what I need.   Getting the old stuff off won't be easy, but who said owning an old bus is ever easy!

I've had overheating issues ever since I bought the bus, so after almost not making it up highway 138 this year I've decided to redo the entire cooling system.   Atlas Radiator in Santa Fe Springs CA is making me a new high-performance core (for $1800 less than Stanton Radiator wanted!), Multi-Wing is making me a 9-blade high-efficiency fan, Quality Control Corporation is making me a new Webster YC fan motor, and I'll also buy a Derale 65k BTU transmission fluid cooler to reduce the heat load into the coolant.   I hope all this will help.   I was measuring my Kysor Alarmstat switch last night in boiling water  -  I think it's not working right, so I'll get another one just to be safe.   All this is cheaper than having to get new heads.

Lots to do!

Many thanks, John