A couple noob questions

I'm embarrassed to ask this, but I'm going to ask anyways. I'm a total DIY noob but I'm slowly getting better and adding tools to my collection. I've got a couple small projects planned for my miata; I've researched them and I know what I need to do but it's the easiest part of the instructions that I need help on.

The first project is replacing the valve cover gasket. All the videos/writeups I've seen say "use sealant" at a couple points but I have no idea what to use. Can anyone recommend a specific product that I should buy for this purpose. Bonus points if you can provide a link to something sold at Advanced Auto. I have a tube of Hondabond for a small job on my wife's car, would that be ideal for this as well?

The second project is replacing all of the bushings and boots in the shifter. All of the instructions say "use grease" when putting everything together but again; I'm not sure what type of grease I need to be using. I have a can of white lithium grease that I've used for door hinges and stuff but I don't think the spray can will work well here; I think I want something that's in a tube or can that you can just dip you fingers into. Again, any advice on specific projects would be great with a bonus for advance auto links.

Black RTV is all I use on the spots that need a dab to seal. Most of those spots are where other parts meat the block and interface with the valve cover, like a timing cover.

I like the spreadable white lithium grease over aerosol for bushings and such.

If/when I own a Miata, I plan to making friends with the folks at Flying Miata. And Keith here on this forum.

Ranger 50 got it. I don't know how specific the vieos were, so I'll try to shed a little light on the application of the RTV.
If the gasket likes to fall out of the valve cover, put some rtv in the groove where the gasket sits, the RTV will act like glue to hold it in. It makes my life easier.
If you have a new gasket, there's no reason to coat the gasket with RTV, but you'll need a little dab in the "corners" where the cam caps meet the cylinder head. Put a pea-sized dot in each of the 6 (if I remember correctly) places then put the cover on.

Black RTV is for sure what you want. On my own miatas, I put a dab on all 4 corners, and a dab on each of the corners where the cam humps are. The torquing order is also important to ensure a leak free valve cover. The areas around the cam humps are usually pretty messy from previous RTV, but take your time cleaning and all will be well.

What DrBoost and asoduk said for the RTV. For the bushing, the lithium grease you have is fine. It's actually what is usually recommended for most types of poly bushings. Spray makes it a little more messy, but you should get good results.

Thanks guys!

Also - before you apply said black RTV, make sure you've got everyplace that touches the gasket clean, and where the RTV goes, degreased w/ brake kleen + clean paper towel so it really adheres to the head and gasket.

All the love for black RTV- I prefer Hylomar, since it just gets tacky.

Am I crazy?

Brett_Murphy wrote: All the love for black RTV- I prefer Hylomar, since it just gets tacky. Am I crazy?

It depends on the application. It I need the sealant to fill a void, like the cam caps, I'm using RTV. If I need to stick the gasket to something, I'd use that or something similar. That was when I worked in a shop. In my garage, I just use RTV so I don't have Hylomar going bad on my shelf since I wouldn't use it that often. But that stuff is good. Using RTV as an adhesive requires some pre-planning since it takes about 20 minutes to get a skin, I should have mentioned that.