Joe's question is in regard to the air box "seal" and not the fuel tank gasket. The fuel tank gasket (cork or Viton) fits in a groove in the top half of the tank and that is pretty much all there is to it. The air box seal fits all the way up to fill that void, the idea of the seal is to enclose the airbox so that air can only enter through the air filter on top. No problem with the butyl, you just be sure to put enough in those corner voids to seal up with the tank. You can see in the illustration the cork or foam seals also have material designed to fill those voids.
This is the PM700 that I've been working on, someone attempted to seal the fuel tank and airbox with Threebond or something similar, but there are small gaps still in those corners. I will need to use some of the butyl caulking cord to press in there, or else try to carefully apply a bit more Threebond to the interior of the tank to effective close those little gaps. You can't see the openings in the photos, but you can see them live and in person as you move the saw around on the bench.
FW side, front corner of the airbox
PTO side, front corner of the airbox
Thanks to Joe for reminding me I still have a task to complete before this saw is ready for action. The Red Cote has been curing for a week and it almost ready, maybe on Saturday I will put fuel in the tank.
Joe - I have the butyl caulk cord on the list we discussed last night in our messages. I wear nitrile gloves when working with the butyl as it is pretty sticky and does not wash off easily...
Mark