TOPIC: One piece vs two piece reed plate/intake manifold

I have two Johnson 70s on my boat. One is a '74 model (70ESL74M), and the other is a '79 model (70EL79R).

The other day I pulled the reed plates so I could inspect the reeds. To my surprise, the '74 manifold and reed plate are two separate pieces. The '79 has a one piece reed plate/manifold.

Looking at the parts list for the '79, it appears that the short shaft model came with the two piece, while the long shaft version (which I have) came with the one piece.

www.boats.net/parts/search/BRP/JOHNSON/1979/70EL79R/INTAKE%20MANIFOLD/parts.html

This leads me to a couple questions.

1) Was one style better than the other for any reason? (I have a spare one-piece unit on a parts engine)

2)On the above parts list, the drawing calls the gasket between the manifold and base "base to crankcase", and the gasket between the base and crankcase "manifold to base". They obviously got something mixed up...but which is the correct part # for the one gasket that my '79 needs?

Thanks,
Phillip