Ok I decided to change my thermostat today. Took it out and put the gasket on and put it all back together and put some gasket sealant on it. Started adding coolant and it started leaking alot. Took it off and didn't see anything weird with the gasket but I decided to buy another one.
Once again put a little bit of sealant on and let it set for a couple hours. Went to add more and once again its leaking. Does the gasket go on the side against the engine then put the thermostat against that and put back together? Any ideas or advice?

 

IIRC, The thermostat should go in first, followed by the gasket, followed by the water neck. There is a milled recess that the thermostat will fit into. Make sure all of the old gasket is removed or it will leak again. You could also replace the water neck too if you think that's the problem. They're like $10-$15 at the parts store.

 

Will the thermostat fit into there and stay like that? I couldn't get it to sit in there without falling out.

 

It won't stay put until you bolt on the water neck.

 

There's a groove in the head where the stat sits.....the stat must not fall out of the groove. U may have crud in the groove preventing the stat from seating well. Clean any crud out of the groove and apply a very small amount of sealer in the groove to help hold the stat in place, then install the gasket with a very thin layer of sealer on both sides, then install the cover. The bolts should tightened just snug....not cranked down hard.

 

I was having trouble getting mine to seal too. Took 3 tries. This post on my build thread helped me out a lot. The gasket I ended up using was adhesive on the side that goes on the thermostat housing, so the RTV only had to go on the head-side of the gasket.

The thermostat itself sits nearly vertical in the head, with careful balance holding it in place. I used a couple small dots of RTV on the edge of the thermostat to help hold it in place, but putting the front wheels on ramps may also tilt the thermostat back enough to stay in place.

Another thing that tripped me up on my 2nd attempt was the serpentine belt. If you take it loose and get it out of the way, life will be better.