I'm not sure you really want to solder the VC...as you know it's not a difficult job.
I did it during Covid and it's still holding strong, made several round trips over 900 miles each from then to now. Job calls for yes, a quality gasket..."elring" brand is the best I'm told. At the time I used a popular aftermarket brand. My thinking was "heck the car is over 200k"
The half moon areas I used black rtv all went well from there.

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