dumb question: sender gasket

Would you put your valve cover on then the gasket then the bolts?????

You are correct this was a stupid question. But sometimes fitment of after market parts bring up the wonder of flaws in redesign.

Install the gasket . Then the sender then the original ring . Do not use one tab to tighten. Work your way around using all three tabs. You want to keep the ring center and as straight as possible. If you rush th instal it will leak no matter what.

One other thing you may want to do is drill a small hole in the corner edge of the tank outside of the welded seam for a ground wire. The new senders do not ground correctly using the original ground strap.

Not knowing if its the way the new tubes are sealed. but the gas guage always seams to be off using the factory ground strap. Make up your own ground strap soldering the ends.