Ok, Did I do a stupid thing?

I had to remove my t-stat housing to deal with some bolts on a t-stat change... in any event, I didn't have the gasket for reasons that I won't go into...

I used some blue permatex form-a-gasket instead and torqued her down...

I'm I going to live to regret this? I DID buy the gasket later on... for a wopping $.81 lol -- so I do have it... just wondering what I can expect?

Thanks,
Pete

I had to take the housing off to gain better access to remove a wrung-off bolt. The gasket stuck in one piece to the block, and I just put the housing back - no leaks. I should think your solution would work fine. Its a fairly large flat sealing area.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

Here is what I do in those cases...
I clean the surface religously.. and lightly run a file across it just to check for flatness..
Then I put as thin a coat of the silicone on each mating surface as I can and let them cure overnight.
If I am using a gasket I do the thin coat on both sides of it ALSO.
Then when I am about to install the unit I put a very thin ( read As thin as I can get it).. coat on one side of every opening... so that is one with no gasket , two with a gasket...
All bolts should be wire brushed,, and any threaded holes should have a proper size tap run through them...with a stiff grease to catch and extract grim or chips.
Then I put it together being very careful NOT to OVER TORQUE it.. because over torqueing is the biggest reason for leaks...
knock on wood... I have not had a leak in 30 years using this method...
I only got this compulsive after I had a water pump leak on my 318 dodge engine... It took hours to get the accessories off JUST to get TO it.... at that time I decided to read all the goo instructions and take my time on the front end of the job.. not take a chance on having to start over...