thanks for all your input
of course being the naive optimist that I am I have gone ahead with the 'simple' replacement of the seals after giving the sector shaft a thorough exam for any movement which would indicate bush wear ( after all the county has only done 485000 kms )
when I say simple .... well life wasn't meant to be easy as I inadvertently dragged the tape protecting the seal from the splines in with the first seal ( because I wrapped the tape to cover the groove above the splines which on closer inspection is "sloped" so in fact is not going to damage the seal)
this resulted in having to remove/wreck this seal
had to use the seal from my own kit
so its all in and test driven with no leak........until it leaks !
time will tell if the wisdom of the more experienced should have been heeded
cheers