Edelbrock Intake Issue

I am brand new to this forum and recently purchased a 68 Barracuda Notchback. It came with an LA360, which included a high rise single plane intake and double pumper Holley Carb. I swapped these out to be a little more street friendly. Now has an Edelbrock Performer intake (2176) and AVS2 650 carb (1906) and happy with the streetability so far. Biggest issue I have is the thermo housing/water neck leaking. Unfortunately, Edelbrock has provided zero help suggesting a recommended thermo housing and thermostat setup and actually told me that this is a known issue. I then contacted Jegs, Summit, etc. to get a recommendation and the consensus has been this set up based on similar past customer setups/issues. Billet Specialties Thermostat Housing (90820) and Mr Gasket Hi-Flow thermostat (4366). Issue is the thermo does not sit flush in housing so the set up does not work whatsoever. I suspect that the leak is due to the double bolt pattern on the intake. I doubled up a couple gaskets and used gasket sealer but the secondary bolt option on the intake sits right on the edge of the gasket and I suspect that is the reason for the leak. Any suggestions here would be a huge help before I pull all my hair out. I want to do this right and do not want to saturate this thing with sealer, silicone, etc.