The metal sticks that hold down the valve cover, are made to be `bent`, this way they hold the cover better and more equally when the nuts get torqued down.
When you reinstall the metal strips, clean them first (they often hold sand and oily dirt) then make sure
the two ends of the banana are in the UP position, pointing to the sky, while the middle area with the hump should be facing the ground/cyl head.
Also, the `studs` v8volvo mentioned are the threaded `bolts`in the top of the cyl head. They are what the valve cover nuts will be clamping on.
Before you even place the valve cover on the studs, make sure these studs are all tightly screwed into the cylinder head and confirm that none of them are loose (but don`t use grabbing pliers to check this bc that will hurt the thin -and 35years old- threads). If you happen to find one of them loose, use two nuts tightened against each other and drive the stud in all the way. This is only important if you have a loose stud because otherwise the `shoulder` of the stud can push the valve cover up at the particular stud and that would result a bad seal of the gasket and in some cases it would let oil leak out (as v8volvo also suggested).
Note: not all d24 motors have the same kind of valve cover stud, I believe 2 or 3 variations exist. Greenbook mentions this at some point. If I find it, I`ll take a snapshot for you. The idea is that before you install the valve cover, you do these `safety` steps to make sure it won`t leak because of a loose stud pushing the gasket `up`.
Follow the tightening sequence which is found in the Greenbook manual, I like to do it in 3 stages and arrive at the final torque (very low torque btw) only at the last round of tightening. This can help making sure your valve cover is held very well and with equal torque on each and every nut. It`s nice to lay the new gasket on a perfectly clean top surface of the cylinder head and I usually achieve that using brake cleaner sprayed on a lint-free microfiber towel (or papertowels) then use my fingers to work old dirt, oil, or corrosion from studs etc off. Petrol works too or diesel fuel but none should end up in the motor oil for obvious reasons. Remains of diesel also need to be wiped off well. In case of rust, don`t use a wire brush because dirty particles
or even parts of the wire can land in the motor oil, then
... Also worth inspecting the inner surface of the v.cover itself, check for corrosion (at the edges, also the sealing surfaces `above` the gasket. Wipe that entire area clean).
About the oil leak you have.
If you think it was the valve cover then the new gasket and properly tightened nuts will cure your oil problem.
(If it was not the valce cover, Can it be the rear seal? It could be but we don`t know for now, so don`t think of it for now. What makes me think of that seal? You mentioned that your engine leaks
more when RPMS are higher than idle, cornering, or on jack etc.) Good news is that in your pictures the visible leaks are at a higher spot--- my bets are on the valce cover.
off-topic question: do you consider checking your valve clearances too, since the v.cover is already off?