I had a recommendation to use black RTV with the new Gasket. If your Valve Cover is not warped, you probably don't need it. I highly recommend, before you even open the tube of RTV, is to install the Gasket onto the Valve Cover. My Gasket would not stay on. The Gasket was a touch too small and it kept popping off. Unfortunately, I put RTV on the outside lip of the Valve Cover (not on the inside, so it would be easy to remove in the future). So now I have RTV getting smeared everywhere while I chase the Gasket. The Gasket has one flat side and the opposite side has several curves. Install the curves first, so the flat side gets stretched. When the curves are stretched, they pop off. Eventually, the RTV started to cure and the Gasket was sticking in place long enough to install the Valve Cover.