I ended up using the JB Weld around the outside of the housing and on the gasket seat area. I ran the car in the shop and then took it on a 10 mile ride with no leaks. Just one thing... when I started with this, I was using the gaskets made by Stant . These have an adhesive on one side of the gasket. My leak was much worse with this gasket. Not sure if that side with the adhesive seals very well. I switched to a FelPro gasket and the leak was really, really minor (a small drop after a day). Thanks to all for the help.
some thermostats are supplied with a rubber/vinyl/composite ring that fits around the outside diameter of the tstat, like this one7710]. Maybe the housing you have is intended to use a tstat like this