When my father bought his 144 new in 1971, the steering was streight as it should be. Over a few weeks or months the "streight" position shifted to one side and stayed there ever since. My father took it back to the dealer who told him "that is normal" and can't be adjusted. Wheel alignment has been done a few times, but the steering was never corrected. Obviously adjusting the tie rod ends should fix this, right? My question is: are there more people who experienced this?

When you go to the average alignment shop they'll normally align the wheels but are too lazy to get the steering aligned. So if the car seems to drive relitively straight this is what you do, first drive down a straight road and let your hands of the wheel once you have the straight position stop the car with the wheel in the straightest position you can. Then pop the hood and make a mark on the position of the spline that comes out of your steering box and connects to your column. After you get it back in the garage align the mark on the spline with the one on the steering box you made earlier. then all you have to do is loosen that nut that clamps your column to the box,loosen the whole column and yank it back until that clamp comes off the steering box. once you disconnect that clamp the column will move freely and you can turn the wheel until it's straight with the marks you made. if you decide to just break the column where the collapsable parts connect instead of loosening the whole colmn remember to check the condition of the bushings and make sure that they'll reconnect with out a problem.
Goodluck
Aaron

The outer tie rods are not adjustable and the center rod affects toe-in,
NOT centering. One thing you might do is see if the steering wheel can be
removed and put on in a different position.
--
George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma