Hi all, thanks for all the great advice.

First step got up early this morning and found damper blade location. Removed, cleaned and regreased both of them. Drivers side made a click sound when I pushed it up in the centre of the blade so figured a quick clean etc will help. Is it worth replacing these?

On a side note, to me surely replacing the damper blades with a modern damper must help tremendously?

Next step I'll put a spanner round the front end.

Steering column play feels acceptable if Rich's comments are referred to...

Tirewise these are likely originals... 27000 miles... Worth a replacement you think?