I'm a big ol' jerkface knowitall doodoohead.
»ducking«
Sorry. I'm feeling a bit punchy today.

Rubber bushings?

ESP47:
Yup. As Dan thought, the shoes were installed 90 degrees out. I’m sure that I had replaced them as I found them on disassembly when rebuilding steering gear. There have been several items incorrectly assembled on this car, so I'm not surprised at my misstep.

1967 Dart FSM does not address the internal guts of these couplers. Within the last week someone on FABO posted an illustration showing the placement of internals of these contraptions.

Look here at 3ed post down.

The car now feels nice and tight with almost no play in the steering wheel after replacing coupler with new parts. Hindsight after pulling it today told me I should have just correctly reassembled the existing parts, but other more historical hindsight form working on this car dictated to just order the parts, and not have car disassembled waiting a week for the inevitable need for new parts. Oh well screwed the pooch on this one, LOL, but the job was completed in a few hours including messing with my degenerated old tachometer.

Now if someone has any method to stop the incessant squeaking tubular upper control arm’s urethane bushings that I have been listening to for three years, I would be a happy camper.