Round 2 has gone much better. I think the rope seals the came with my gasket set were too thick. A 24 inch 3/4 drive ratchet would barely move it. There looked to be way too much seal protruding out and it looked fully bedded. We pulled the crank back out and was looking at a set of chevy ropes, fel-pro bs12173 that another member mentioned, when I remembered I had bought a gasket set back in 2017 on ebay. Dug the out and right from first appearance the looked nicer.
The little piece is a scrap from the first ones. It is thicker and does not compress on sides much. The second set and the chevy ones both have a little give on the sides to help get it into the slot. I used my thumb to start it in the slot and then used pliers to squeeze side and fully bed into the slot.
The one on top is the first seal, the second better fitting is the lower one
Got the mains torqued down starting in center working my way to the ends in three steps increasing torque after each pass.