2000 Yamaha 4 hp 4-stroke tiller handle is floppy

[pvanv]

I have a friend's dinghy motor, Yamaha model F4MSHY, which runs well, but the tiller is "loose". It's fastened to the 4-piece carry handle and lower cowl fine, but it seems there is a "steering bracket", apparently now obsolete, that is supposed to bolt to the bottom of the block, and keep the tiller stable. The tiller and bushings seem in good shape, but the bracket is loose on the block. At a minimum, I am planning to clean and tighten the 2 bolts for that bracket (with loc-tite), but since the bracket is now obsolete, maybe there is an improvement I can make to keep this from happening in the future. It seems a marginal design. Is there an "approved" fix or superceded part for the bracket to correct this? The starboard side has castings from the block that bolt to the handle/cowl, but on the port side, this seems to be the only thing that keeps the handle and lower cowl in place.