I ended up just leaving it in one piece. I saw that more than a few people had broken the breather bolts of of the valve cove. Those don't need to be too tigh. I believe they are just there to hold it on when being assembled , as the valve cover bolts hold it down. I did end up just putting a very thin skim of rtv on the valve cover gasket where it contacts the head. I've resealed countless "ribbed" valve cover gaskets and I've found they're the worst.