what is the deal with my 225 /six compression?

Replacing the valve cover gasket is pretty straight forward. But the early slant 6's also used spark plug tubes that seal with an O-ring around each tube. The spark plug actually holds the tube in and makes the seal. You may need to replace the tube seals also.

i saw that when i had the plugs out, never seen a set up like that before. i will look into buying new seals for around those tubes. Thank you so much for the welcome and useful info!