I had a 974 purchased new w_out rubber paddles. I asked and was told they quit putting them on. I ran it about 5 years w_out problems. I would at least try it before I purchased paddles or try to get the seller to put them on now.
The change was made to make the vertical shaft with a grease zerk in order to get grease to the top bearing. By not having a seal on the one side of the top bearing it became possible to get grease into the bearing via the zerk on the shaft.