Your friendly neighborhood parts store!

Does anyone have any advice for parts shopping, or dp I have to carry a list of every vehicle my driver is made up of? I'm getting tired of the " I don't show that comes on that..... " response. WTF... What happened to being able to just say what you need????

 

Go to the parts stores website and find the part number to what you need, write it down and bring it in and tell them you need that part number. Should be able to type it in and go get it.

Or just order everything online

 

The short answer is "yes".

Auto parts stores, as well as many other businesses, have chosen W*lm*rt as their business model. This means hiring the least experienced people as part time employees, paying them the lowest wage possible with few or no benefits, and making maximum profit their one and only goal.

Great concept, huh?

(rant over)

 

Everything I buy when I'm doing the initial build gets put into a spreadsheet on my computer. Manufacturer's name, part no., description and where bought.
If I need to service it later, I have all the info I need at hand.

 

There are a few threads here about parts countermen, (and their customers) that don't know squat, and only know how to punch buttons on a computer. It's true that the auto parts chain stores no longer care how much their employees know about cars, but there are some good ones out there. I've found I get the best knowledgeable service from the old guys that still work at N.A.P.A. stores. Other than that, YES, you will need to keep a list of all the donor cars you get your parts from.
I can never understand someone bitching about, say, a water pump they got wrong for their '55 Chevy with a big block in it.

 

Thank god we still have one or two REAL auto parts stores around. I always keep a record of the parts I use with the parts number and manufacter. I'll have to agree with some of the above,we don't have parts people anymore we have CLERKS or CLUCKS as they are know aroud here!

 

I got skilled at looking up parts myself out of necessity a while ago. Maybe it's demeanor or how I ask "let's look that up for a 19xx Chevy such and such" but the rookies don't question me much anymore.

And if they do, I make sure and put 20 seconds of "well it's got a clutch and trans. from this behind a 1975 block from that and since I customized this for it to go together, that's why we're gonna look it up for that." That slows the questions to a dull roar.

So work on your phrasing of things. Yesterday I heard a cell phone call at lunch by a woman who didn't speak perfectly enunciated words of English. The person on the other end didn't understand her well. She repeated the exact same phrases over and over, louder and louder. Screw that. Re-word or re-phrase it.

Yeah, you need to know what on your vehicle came from what. Johnny uniform behind the counter isn't gonna.

 

I have a list of parts from other vehicles that fit my application. I use it so I don't have to explain why I am using a 1975 HEI in a 41 Chevy. I have learned if I know what I need and a alternative that it fits, that I know will be an easy look up it helps. I am also a shift manager at a parts store part time, that makes a difference for a lot of my customers. Being prepared and organized can take the idiot factor out of getting parts from the idiots....

 

I would bet that if there was a "parts store guy journal" they would have way more stories of idiot customers than we would of idiot parts guys.

 

You have the capability to look up your own part numbers on-line and shop the price to boot.

Do the leg-work yourself and you'll be a happier customer at the parts store.

 

This is true. I see a ton of posts on here all the time with the same "i went to *insert chain store name* and the guy didn't know anything..." This is with any business. There are mechanics that can't do shit and there are ones that do great work, same goes for parts store people. So when you start ripping on chain stores or certain part stores, remember that there are good and bad everywhere. Just because you found a dumbass doesn't mean everyone is.

 

Umm, not necessary. My brother went into a Checker Auto with the part number in hand for a pair of Monroe shocks. He'd taken the number off the set he had on his hot rod when he bought it. Kid at the counter was able to find those shocks where in stock but couldn't sell them unless my brother could give the proper year make and model they came off of. He explained to my brother without the info he didn't know how to invoice them!

 

I like the idea of a spreadsheet or list maybe kept in the car of all the parts. That may make it simpler for me. I have the doner year for my engine, and the rest is original but you gotta love the run around from the clerk.

 

Dude I don't know whats done to your car but let say if you have a 1946 Ford with a Camaro front clip, a Pontiac engine backed up with a Chrysler 4 speed... well, you don't go in and say I need a head gasket for a Pontiac motor in a 1946 Ford. You are just asking for someone to scratch their head. Have the year, make and model handy for ANY parts of anything you are asking about. It will make your parts store experience easier.

 

My NAPA, who I used to work for before I got wicked smart and became a mechanic, is quite archaic,,,they just dont have the money to upgrade the p.c. sytem. ALOT of older car parts that the warehouses stock come up as not available until I give them their number, then presto they can get it!!
you are already on here, just go to the parts store website, get your part number and go get it from them...easy, no drama, and if its wrong you can come back and write another thread on stupid parts counterman/customers!

 

likewise i keep a journal of what parts i need. and in some cases you just have to make a good friend. i took in a radiator i dont know what it came from the angle was right just to long i cut it down and used it. years later i went into get a repalcement. i told them what i needed it for and they couldnt find it. i brought in my cut hose and they said they couldnt find anything to fit that curve. now mind you i dont know what it came of. but i know it came off of some kind of chevy. i left. not happy. dug out my flexable hose and called it good for now. but same situation with my points. they couldnt find, but this guy was good and he grabbed boxes and we started opening them. i found points i that where the same. from a packard or something. its on the list.

 

Been there, When a parts guy asks a customer what engine his Ford has in it and he says "a blue one" you know it isn't going to be a good day.

As several said above. Know exactly what you have and either the parts number or exactly what model that it came out of. It's pretty common for the local parts guys in the town I live in to make the customers take the registration slip for the car that they are working on into the counter when asking for a part. A lot of the local customers actually can't tell you what car they really have but just because one says he has a Capri doesn't mean he has a little Mercury.

Napa, Autozone and O'Reilly's all have easy to use online parts catalogs along with Rock Auto's website. At least one of them will give you a real parts number for what you need to take to any parts house in the land and ask for that specific part by brand and number and the person behind the counter should be able to cross that part number in his/her computer.

 

exactly.

 

I keep the tags or box ends with the number and manufacturer and what it is in a notebook, works for me.

 

As you replace stuff keep track of the part number. Sometimes their computers are wrong even for the late model stuff - I ran into this a while back needing a belt for a '91 Chevy van with A/C but no AIR system. The one they show for it is too short by about an inch, and you could probably go another inch and still have enough tension on it. So I kept the cardboard keeper from it and stuck it in the glove box.

Rock Auto is nice to look up parts on because most of the time you can click on the number and get a popup showing the interchange for the part. Advance Auto won't show front wheel cylinders for a '51 Chevy - but they will for a '75 Jeep, and they're the same damn thing. And they might not have them in store but can probably have them by the end of the week.

 

Yes please keep a of part numbers or a general application and work with us to help you with your car.

When we built formula cars years ago I created an excel sheet with part numbers and alternates and general applications.

The idea of walking into the Napa I work in and asking for a front rotor and radiator for a Formula Mitsubishi
sounds silly right? But asking for 1962-1980 all triumph spitfire rotors and a 1978 Rabbit radiator sounds a little more likely to produce the results we all want.
Plus excel is fairly universal and an be imported into Google Docs(free) for the next car owner that may not have excel
Look everybody wins !
Yea

 

Taken from another post.....


LIFE OF A PARTS MAN

I work behind the counter
In an automotive store
Sometimes I'm called a genius
Sometimes I'm called much more

I claim I'm no mechanic
But when the job goes sick
The mechanic comes and asks me
What makes the damned thing tick

I'm supposed to know the numbers
Of bolts and nuts and gears
For every car that was ever made
For more than forty years

I'm an engineer and machinist
And what not, Oh, my Lord
I'm supposed to be an Edison
Combined with Henry Ford

But life would be a pleasure
And I'd grin from ear to ear
If the customer would tell me
The model, make, and year.

 

That's BS!

I work at Advance Auto Parts. All you do is scan the barcode or type in the Part number. The sale amount and tax is calculated. Tell me the type of payment cash or ? Fork over the $$ and you walk out with your parts.

A customer came in the store needing a gasket set for a SBC that he is putting in a '37 International pickup. It was like pulling teeth to get him to tell me it is a 283 SBC. He kept telling me they are all the same. I told him then why do I have many listed. Every different gasket set has something unique to it. I sold him a set for a '64 283 and it turned out perfectly.

Our vehicle listings go back to the '20s and teens in some cases. If you know what year and make a particular component is we can find it. Most parts we can get the next day if it is not in the store.

I just did the same routine with a starter for a 327. SBC they are all the same right? Wrong.

And remember If it is "in stock" we have it!

 

It's really quite simple. Take my OT car as an example. 1969 Cougar, 1971 Windsor with a 1990 WC T5 5 speed.

Me: "I need a clutch, P.P. for a '90 WC T5."
Parts guy: "What's it going in?"
Me: "Doesnt matter. I need a clutch, P.P. for a '90 T5."
Parts guy: "I need to know so I can look it up."
Me: "It's for a '92 African grey elephant. I THINK they use the same clutch, P.P. as a '90 WC T5."

 

So far I can remember every vehicle the parts came off of but if something would happen to me my family would be screwed,I do need to start writing things down.

 

Every parts store has good and bad people. Even my favorite non chain store has guys that I wont deal with. It does seem to me that the chain stores have more than their share of non car guys working behind the counter, as many don't know common terminology that most of us older guys grew up with.
Sometimes I can go in and tell the guy I've got a 1969 Chevelle 327, and it's in a 1946 Austin, then he simply types in whatever for the other questions he's prompted to enter. Other guys will ask all the usual things like AC?, auto or manual?, etc. and that's when I get frustrated. They just don't seem to comprehend a engine swap wont be relevent to these stupid questions, and not ask them.

 

Naw man, It's nowhere near that complicated, and I know that this example is partly my fault but, last week heres what happened.

I upgrade my 1965 283(which resides in my 1955 Chevy 3100) to an HEI Distributor. I was told this was a good thing. I went to parts store and asked for plug wires. What yr? Make? Model? Engine? I explained all of this. I also let them know that this was an HEI conversion from the old points style.

Now I'll admit, I should have known that I needed to look at the wires before I left but I didn't. I did however make certian that they knew this was a HEI conversion. I wasn't at the time aware that I needed to invent a whole new car to shop for, Due to the different style cap. Enter the corvette 1978 I believe which ran HEI from the factory.

I guess I'm guilty of not knowing a ton of info(which is why I'm here daily now), but I sure was hoping multiple trips to the store could be eliminated by someone saying....

" Wait, you said this was for an HEI distributor... the computer doesn't show that, lets look at this..." flash forward to me coming home with the right parts.

 

Totaly agree. I just walk in and tell them what i need. when they ask what its for my favorite answer is it doesnt matter. then they ask again so they can "look it up". i say you wont have the listing. back and forth we go until the new guys arent new and the dont even ask me when i come in any more.

 

"If we ain't got it, you don't need it!"

And the ever popular "Open 24 Hours, But Not In A Row."

 

They make about 15 different part number wire sets for HEI distributors. Plus, there are a few different styles of HEI units (when it comes to the module). Now granted you need a "car guy" to help you when it comes to swaps, however, 90% of the time, a car guy doesn't work the counter. This is when some research comes in handy before you ask.

I normally don't make comments however, being that I was a parts guy for 4 years at a chain store, its hard not to stick up for them sometimes.