If the steering has slop I would adjust the box while the engine is out. It is also likely the head gasket is blown so I recommend pulling the head and resurfacing it and cleaning the carbon off the top of the piston. While you have the tins off to clean the engine I also suggest you remove the flywheel and blow all the junk off the stator with compressed air. Here's to a video on how to resurface the head.
https://youtu.be/L1jFtTzLh7o