Removing slop in manual steering

Just to clarify in case people have the wrong mental picture, it feels like a quarter turn of slop total, not 1/4 turn either direction, so more like an 1/8 of a turn from center before it hits any noticeable resistance. If you turn it till it just hits resistance the car may drift a little one direction, but it's not like making a lane change. I've always just sort of attributed it to old fashioned steering since I have a 71 Vette that had a similar sort of sensation, though it has power steering.

I've pretty much rebuilt the whole system on it now and it's gotten rid of a lot of the "loose" feeling and some of the slop, though it is just a little soft at center where it's probably more worn on the steering gears and in the control valve (uses a hydraulic ram assist instead of powering the sector directly like a Mopar). Got to thinking if it fixed the Vette that maybe I could clean up the Dart as well.