volvo penta DP-C steering fork/helmet seal...directionally challenged!

so I have had a lot of slop in my steering for the past couple seasons, got all the seals and bushing and tore into it.... all ready to re assemble, new bushings in, helmet & fork ready to go.... see first pic...the question, what direction does this seal get inserted? It seems that the spring should be facing up, in toward the bushings where grease gets pumped in. It came out with the spring facing down, that seemed wrong. difficult to drive in, and grease always pumped out the seal every time i serviced the fitting on the transom shield. any input would be great!