I've located the source of the calanging noise when moving the gearstick forward and back - the bottom of the relay shaft (the rod with the plastic ball stuck on an arm which sticks 90 degrees out) has come loose from the bracket.
I've got the ebay linkage repair kit - I didn't have time to do anything last night, hopefully I can tonight. I just hope that a the new shaft will do the job... it's possible that the bracket has worn away, in which case I'll need to order one of those too.
Looks like i won't need the bushing from benvictors after all