Upper/Lower sterdrive gasket

[jimrockireland]

I have a 1983 MCM228 with a MC1 Sterndrive unit SN 6289715. . I recently separated the upper and lower drives and wondered if there should be a gasket between the upper/lower drive units. Mine does not have one and it seems to be an obvious place for a gasket to seal the two units together. I spoke to a boat mechanic who told me all the sterndrives made around this time had gaskets. I emailed mercruiserparts.com and asked them if there should be a gasket here and the person who replied said no gasket appears on the parts diagram. Should there be a gasket here or not?

 

[Faztbullet]

No gasket...just o-ring around oil passage