Water pump gaskets and rtv?

You do not need any between the backing plate and pump but I do like to use a thin coating on the gasket to cover, the copper holds up to the heat very well

I rtv everything. never had any probs.
Good Luck

I think I've probably had more water pump leaks than anyone in the world. Maybe not, but I've done that water pump gasket on the same car probably at least 6-7 times in the past year...3 in the past 6 weeks. I finally got it to seal by using stuff called "the right stuff" in the cheeze whiz type can at autozone and no gaskets. My problem always seemed to be the bottom of the plate/pump gasket leaking. The can of "the right stuff" was like $14, but it was worth every penny since it seemed to to have worked (only driven ~50 miles).