Shane, I just had a 1956 235 rebuilt. I worked pretty closely with the machinist. I provided a gasket set for the engine.
There was a front plate gasket in the kit, and the technician used it in the rebuild. I was not there when he took the plate off, so I can not address the issue of was there one in the engine from day one at the factory. In fact the question never came up in conversation. I can tell you that he used the gasket from the kit, as he returned the extra odd ball gasket which he could not identify.
