Saving Old Seagulls

The paper gasket on my 40 plus has been applied with red Hermetite gasket sealing compound by a previous owner. I'm just wondering is this good practice or should the gasket be applied without a gasket sealing compound? The actual gasket is very thin, is there a thicker more durable gasket available? As you can see in the photo below the paper gasket is torn. When I emptied the contents of the gearbox out the oil and water had separated out; it was definitely in need of oil change/refill. There doesn't appear to be too much corrosion. I've refilled it with ep140 for now but I'm just wondering should I remove the Hermetite the next time I'm doing an oil change?

http://www.hammerite-automotive.com/her ... pounds.htm

Cheers Pat

Don't wory about the sealant. Water gets in regardless.

I don't even reuse the gasket, I just use the gasket goo

The Gasket has 2 jobs,

One is to give a resonable oil/water proof seal for the gearbox endcap.

But the more important one is because of it's thickness, 10 thou, is to provide the correct clearance, in conjuntion with the hardened steel thrust washer, between the crownwheel & pinion, to prevent rapid gear & bevel pinion bearing wear.

Seagull were never famous for adding extra costs to their products, just for fun!

Thanks for the replies, I'll leave well enough alone so.

Cheers Pat