I purchased this D7 about 5 years ago and pretty much drove it into the shed and haven't looked at it since. I decided to start on a couple small repairs this weekend.
 
The steering clutch levers had some slop so I wanted to rectify that with new bushings and such. Here the floor panels are removed to get access to the pedestal where the levers attach.
 
With linkages unhooked and bolts out I was able to remove the lever pedestal. Years of dirt and debris that needs to be cleaned.
 
 
I washed and degreased everything so I could see what I was working with.
 
I used a couple of broken harbor freight breaker bars to drive the old bushings out of the pedestal. I'm going to get my $12 of use of of them yet!
 
 
I pressed new bushings into the levers.
 
 



 

I cleaned all the 70+ year old grease out of the pedestal. I have the new bushing on order for this.
 
The shaft is going to need some attention as it shows plenty of wear. This is NLA through Cat so I'm going to check with a few machine shops and either have this one welded and turned down or a new one made. 
 
 
 

Looks nice and clean now, I have do continue getting years of gunk out from under the floor on mine as well. Did you use anything specific that made it easier or just wire brushed it all?

I used a plastic scraper and shop vac just near the bolts that I needed to remove. I need to go over the whole area thoroughly before I start reassembly. Most of it is dry sandy material that brushes off pretty easy.

Mine is not so easy to remove but plastic scraper would probably be easier than wire brushing everything thanks.

That is a very nice original tractor! DONT repaint it! It looks great!!!!!!

New shaft machined and ready for installation.
 

That is too pretty to install. I bet it will make a huge difference with all of the new hardware. I'm not one for sloppy levers. As mentioned, been on some that were so terrible, you closed your eyes and imagined they were joystick controls! Thanks for the pics. JM

I hate sloppy levers like everybody else I done what you are doing several times. I never had any luck with bronze it just doesn’t last on the steering levers on the last one we put Torrington bearings so far so good, ,on the left pedestal bushing next to the clutch lever I made the shaft longer and put a 1inch pillow block bearing on the end to take the pressure of the bushing so far I like it! I put in some Caterpillar kind of fiber lined bushings one time they were worse than the bronze. 17afarmer

Being a machinist for many years I have found a little slop is good as it lets the lube in. A lot of old time machinists use to try to make parts tighter than the other guy. Not always for the better..