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I'm hoping to draw on the expertise on this board to help me with the following:

When accelerating in a straight line my car pulls to the left when I lift my foot off the accelerator pedal. This is accompanied by a knocking sound that seems to be against the bulkhead/foot area. I have jacked the car up and tested play on the front wheels. The right hand side has little bit of play and the left a bit more (I'd say 5mm). I've checked and tightened all ball joints, replaced tie rod ends, checked track rod bushes and tightened the nuts. I've also made sure both hub retaining nuts are screwed on about the same tightness. The car has brand new tyres and previous front tyres had no uneven wear. The car has an additional engine steady and all bushes are fine. Play on the left side seems to come from the inside of the steering rack.

The pulling/drag to the left corrects itself as soon as I put my foot back on the accelerator when one can notice the car pulling back to "normal".

Any suggestions on possible causes? Causes of the knocking sound?

Thanks

Have you checked the engine mountings?

You don't say if yours is an early solid mounted or later rubber mounted car, it is possible for these rubber subframe bushes to disintegrate & produce this sort of effect.

Have you checked to see if there is any oil in your steering rack?

Thanks Mark. It's a 1972 Mini, so it should have rubber mountings, right? I will investigate further.

If its a 72 it will still be on solid subframe mountings. The rubber mounted frame came in around 1976.

Well guess what...a tie rod end with a missing washer caused most of the play. So fitting a new tie rod end and attaching it to the hub with the same nut (without washer) isn't gonna solve the problem, is it? Washer fitted and problem solved! Well, almost...still a small bit of play on the rack.

Excellent news! Well found.