Edelbrock Intake Issue

The alloy houses are better than the crummy steel ones.
I've had my share of leaks over the years, since I started running Mopes in 1970.
Here's what has worked for me:
> a flat intake surface, scratched with my old flat bastard file.
> A filed-flat and scratched housing, rough enough to grab the gasket
> the stat has to fit into the housing on the shelf provided, with a lil clearance to spare. I have machined many a housing to get this.
> any old gasket including sometimes, in my case, an old cereal-box, no sealer.
> 3/8 studs in the manifold, locked in, and fine-thread showing.
> load-spreader washers off a slanty exhaust manifold
> brass nuts so I never have to ever take the studs out.
> a 7# cap,
> but my secret weapon is a cooling system that runs at 205 to 207, rock solid, any weather, any ambient temp, no matter how badly I abuse her. At 7psi, my hoses seem to last forever; one of the rad hoses was already old when I installed it in 1999........ The old used heater hoses were replaced in about 2002. Somewhere along the way, maybe 2004, I installed a new silicone bypass hose with the special hose clamps..... not because the old one was leaking, but just cuz.
My stat gasket has been holding since 2004/05, which (IIRC)was the last time that I freshened the engine.
I'm not saying you gotta do this or that ; do whatever floats yur boat; but,
if you skip a step,
you get what you get.