Thermostat question - 1991 2.9

[Fairlaniac]

I recently picked up a 1991 Ranger as my beater truck. I never had a 2.9 so it's all new to me. I noticed a drip of coolant coming from the thermostat area so I stopped at Advanced Auto to get a new gasket and t-stat. So I find out I need the o-ring and t-stat but it looks like I need a gasket for the t-stat housing? I didn't take it apart yet but did some internet searching and find this http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-90662-86-92-thermostat-housing-2-9-l.html , so is there a gasket to be used? Advanced Auto didn't show anything?

Thanks,

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

If the thermostat uses an O ring, there is no need for a gasket on the housing.

 

[Tedybear]

I'm not sure if we did ours right LOL. I used the O-Ring and the gasket. I couldn't stand the idea of having metal to metal contact bolted together where fluids are in play. Metal warps slightly when it's hot....etc.. And last thing I needed was a leak. As it stands the housing to head is solid with no leaks. But thanks to cheap china metal, the hose has always been seeping slightly. (That's with two different hoses, and three housings. You can actually see the defects in the metal!)

S-