Well, I removed the gear lever bush to find it was already a bronze type and had no play whatsoever. I guess my gearchange is as good as it will ever be.
I did mine a few weeks ago, but also found there was no play in the old part (even though it was steel). I have a slight bit of play in the pivot joint on the gearbox, and the rod going into the gearbox can also slide a bit around, but it will never be "knife in butter", I'm afraid