[~The Jester~]

I've NEVER had any luck with the RTV carb seal thing. Spend the few dollars and get the Mr. Gasket carb gasket, be done.

On your stripped threads, try a metric bolt that's a bit bigger than the 1/4 X 20 threads. I'm guessing 8mm??? Usually these have pretty aggressive threads, some even self tappers. Use the "Go in 2 turns, back out 1" method when installing. Usually does the trick, if not I like heli-coils.