History Remember when????????????

I'm 45 yrs old and I was raised before the internet, back in the day at my local auto parts store ol Chuck would have all the part #'s in his head now they need your VIN to punch in and dont work on older or custom projects. Lately (and always) I've seen alot of post on here, how wide is my axel, how many lug nuts do I have, will this fit in my truck etc. In the old days we would just count it, measure it, or try it? Even today with all this internet technology it is easier to grab a measure tape and measure it than start a post and wait for an answer, and hope its correct. And if it dont fit or work we would make it fit or work! Sorry for the rant but thanks for listening, Lance

 

Yea.
soon to be 56 here. We used to look for pieces that would bolt together but I was never so lucky so like the fellas that came before me I had to learn how to make it fit.

Rant away.

Upside to the internet is that I don't spend nearly as much time under some old junker with the snakes and hornets in some old wrecking yard.

Well come to think of it maybe that isn't a good thing. The wife and I had a lot of fun in old wrecking yards when we were kids.

 

I order of the internet so much I should probably go to rehab for it.... but the one complaint about it that I have is that its drove most the speed shops out of business. The odds of AutoZone, or PepBoys, or whoever having what ever you need is slim when working with custom applications. So then you have to pay shipping & wait 2 to 3 days for a $10 part.

 

Yeah I remember but foreign cars had their own parts stores back then and there was no such thing as an oxygen sensor or a TPS. Hondas, Volvos and VWs were not in a normal parts store. Only "Rainman" could remember all the part #s of today.

I was surprised when I went to the Chrysler dealership to buy a hub cap for a 2001 Sebring and had to have the serial number to get the hub cap.

I miss those days and the parts guys that knew all the numbers and could recognize them as soon as you laid them on the counter. Who needs parts books?

Get used to it...that time is gone forever.

 

The wrecking yards used to be a learning experience. A place where you could go and see how things actually looked and worked in the real world as opposed to numbers and pictures in a book. It was full of ideas. You could look at the roofs of various cars and measure them to see what one would work best to fill that hole in the top of your 31 coupe for example. Or check out dash knobs, window cranks, etc. you might want to use. Now the insurance co's won't let customers into the yards that are left. Guys learn from books and internet instead of playing with parts. I knew the end was near the first time I went into the Chevy dealer and the guy had to look up the number and order in a fuel pump for a small block Chevy as they didn't carry them in stock.

"Small Block Chevy"? Is that the 4 or the V6?
I didn't kill him, but I wanted to.

 

Well , I will be 57 this December and I remember when we needed parts we would go to the local gas station to get most of them and if they didn't have it then down the next couple blocks was the auto parts store . Most of the time we just walked in with the parts and they guy said I will be right back and a minute later we had the part ! Those guy's knew what the part was and what it fit without a book ! just about the only time you needed to know the year and engine size was when you had to order the parts .
Now we go into a so called "parts store" filled with everything BUT what you need ! Then you have to go up to some "Dumb-ass" kid that has no idea what the hell they are doing or the ones that can't speak English and then you have to tell them what part you need . The best thing about the computer is all you have to do is point to the parts on the picture they show you so you can get the parts you need . Then they come back 3 or 4 times with the wrong part , then you tell them "Look at the damn screen and this is the part I want " !
I would rather order a part on line than deal with these dumb ass kids at these so called "parts stores " .
It's just really sad and there is no excuse for there stupidy !

Now as for the stupid questions you posted about like lug nuts and things like that , That is what you call , LAZY ! I will not help anyone that is too lazy to look something up that is so easy to find . I still love the ones that ask the question , what do these numbers mean in a Vin or on the engine block ! I can bet you there isn't one day that doesn't go by when someone will ask that same question on here about "what do these numbers mean " .

Anyway sorry for sounding off but it really does get old and you asked !

Retro Jim

 

yeah back then you didn't ask thousands of people one stupid question
you asked one person thousands of stupid questions

we all gotta learn somehow..

it is getting tough finding a parts store that is familiar with what I am working on,
but it seems even harder sometimes to find a machine shop that I feel confident about leaving my hard found parts with..
those junkyards are all gone and replacement parts are getting tougher to find

 

My "OLD parts guy" was Bill Shew in Humble, Texas back in the mid-'60s. Knew "the numbers" without the book on almost everything. I even worked for him for a short while. Two man store! He would lend his old International pick-up to us kids to haul a big part somewhere. Bill also maintained a folder that sat on the counter that he called the "goofy box". It was a folder that contained receipts for parts that we kids were allowed to buy on credit, which we were allowed to pay-off a bit at a time as we were able. Of course, those days are gone now. DD

 

I guess we are lucky out here. Even the big name stores seem to have pretty good help. I have 4 different parts stores I feel comfortable going to, they have the numbers memorized for the stuff us hotrodders use. Martha even comments to me "you use Wix Filters and Lucas right?" But then even the lady at one of my bank branches knows how I like my bills when I make a withdrawel. Must be a rural thing?

 

wrecking yards were great. you could just go and get what you needed.
see all that twisted metal and do your own research as to determine how fast someone was driving to move that engine and trans up and thru a firewall or how the roof got removed "quickly".

the best part was getting an ice cold coke from a glass bottle on the way out from the roach coach on a hot day, parts in hand.

 

Actually it's not always easier to simply measure. Especially with the internet. Many times I like to work on my car down at my buddies garage because it has far more room than mine.

I might be sitting at home geting ready to order a new carburator flywheel spring and realize that I forget to check to see whether mine was left handed or right handed. So I ask real quick, get an answer and order.

Back then the parts guy wasn't stuck with 20 hours a week at minimum wage either. Back then the parts guy might have recommended a rebuild kit over a new one but today, the Chinese don't manufacture rebuild kits.

 

Not many older guys left working at the same place but, the other day I sent our 331 hemi crank to Velasco's in Calif. Henry answered and I told him I sent him another crank. He said yeah, it's here. Then he said, check and see if it's straight, offset grind the rod journals to BBC size, nitride it, tap the crank flange holes, remove the gear, and you want .004 on the rods and .0045 on the mains right? Now it was over a year ago when he did our other crank. He remembered my deal out of all the cranks he does. And he does a ton of them. Unbelievable. Lippy

 

I'm on the younger end of things, just turned 30, so I was raised pretty much with a computer screen in front of me. Not as bad as some of the kids younger than me, but enough that I didn't really get the true experience as you guys are describing it. I didn't get into old American cars until I was about 24-25, luckily there's still a guy not too far from me who knows all the part numbers, has stacks of books, and no computer in his shop.

 

The auto-dismantlers were king. My brother and I shared some good times in those yards. We would go out every Saturday morning and just walk through the yard to see what was new. Cat at the main office would just let us rummage around in the yard and pay for what we got. Man I miss those days !! >>>>.

 

the problem is, they turned the "auto parts guy" into another minimum wage "McJob"
You can NOT pay somebody 5-10 dollars an hour and expect the same knowledge and expertise as your career parts guy. It's a bummer, but we did it to ourselves by buying from the "big guys" and buying online to save a buck. I'm as guilty (or more) as anybody else unfortunately. However, in my defense... the big guy has been nearly the only option since the start of my wrenching days.

 

Shipping is the thing I try to avoid. I needed a brake light switch for my 34 P/U. I knew it was the same as a 56 Ford so I called before I drove over there and asked. Do you have a BL switch for a 56 Ford. The guy said "I hope not" meaning that it couldn't be a hot seller anymore. The computer didn't go back that far. He was willing to get out the books but I didn't want to bother him on an 8 dollar part.

I looked it up at NAPA on line and got 2 pt#s. Called my local NAPA with the #s and they had the Eclin # in stock. It fits soooo many cars and trucks that they still sell well enough to keep in stock.

 

2 points worth makin here.... the absolute idiocracy of most parts stores is somethin we can counteract. you know that little kid in your neighborhood that lurks about everytime your rod sees daylight? engage him! let him tote a part now n then, let him sit in the car, involve him! we can make a difference not just in the next generation of parts guys but quite possibly in the quality of their lives. buildin old cars is LOTS better than some "vices".. just remember, the little dudes dont know anything that somebody hasnt showed em... and point # 2.. i ALWAYS seek out the oldest fella behind the parts counter. the kids seem to think that where the computer stops is the absolute beginning of recorded history! the old dudes have no problem diggin out the GIANT ASS PHONEBOOK style parts book! and thank gawd for em! there are exceptions to this rule. here in grand jct co. i go to a particular autozone for most replacement style stuff and i got a regular go to guy there. mid 20s, kid named jarrod and ya know how i got him interested in helpin? simple, i involved him in the process. i take pics in so he can see the progress WE are makin and now, instead of bein the jackass always lookin for hard to find stuff, i'm the old guy with the cool car that jarrod is helpin to get on the road.
just my 2 cents worth... for what its worth.

 

Walked into a parts store needed a transmission mount for an 85 Jeep,guy brought it out I opened it up to check for match up and he said $38,the mount looked alot like something I had changed years ago I asked the parts guy to show me a 1968 Chevy Malibu mount and damn I was right same mount,different part number,$7.50,back years ago the parts guys knew all the interchangable stuff but today its just about the $$$$$.

 

I'm 63. Used to love crawling around in wrecking yards, finding neat stuff, and removing it myself. The last "u-pick" yard in my area went away recently when a car fell on some guy and squashed him. My local NAPA folks still have a pretty good grip on what fits what, but when they retire, that knowledge base will be gone forever. And my favorite speed shop (performance center) moved to another town, which makes it really unhandy. The internet is really the best way to find what I need anymore, although I sometimes end up with something that isn't quite what I thought it'd be.

 

I can relate to the current crop of parts counter men. Most haven't got a clue if it isn't in the computer. At 65, almost 66, I long for the days when if you asked for something and it wasn't in stock the counterman would go out back, take a rock, chisel, and mallet and make you one. Sure it took a few minutes longer but you could always use the time to go out to the hitching post and give your horse an extra sugar cube for being so patient.

Frank

 

LOL, there you go!

 

The NAPA store had a machine shop in the back along with a machinist to fix whatever you brought in. Stools along the counter to sit on while you waited, and four guys behind the counter in a little podunk town... yeah, I miss those days.

What I don't miss is only knowing as much as those guys could tell me. Now I have the whole world at my fingertips. If there had been a HAMB at that time I'd still be driving my '59 Chevy P'up today

So yeah, it was better, but it wasn't at the same time, at least as far knowledge goes.

I still have one source sitting on the shelf: Hollanders

 

As far as parts stores go, most don't give a damn because OLD cars won't make them a lot of money. Newer cars will. Their entire inventory is computerized so when they sell a part they 'new' way, inventory is automatically reordered. Anything we drive will be a special order and they'd rather not do that.

 

Why do we bitch and moan over parts guys? Back then you had 3 major manufacturers, 4,6 & 8 clyinders, lots of motor parts for a manufacturer were inter changeable, etc,etc. With all the different cars today I would challenge any of you to have the part numbers in your head to keep a minimum wage job till you got out of school, specially for a bunch of grumpy old farts who wouldn't give you the time of day out on the street. And they are asking about a part for a 50-60 year old car.
ps:born 1940

 

My original rant was about the kids on here that are to lazy to measure the width of their axel so they'll start a thread. Or how many lugs are my 5 lug wheels. When i was a kid i would have to measure or count, i/we didnt have the convinience of asking a question online, we had to figure it out ourself! Like yesterday there was a thread will a 32? Body fit in the back of my truck???? Pick the fuckin thing up and try it, if not get a bigger truck or make it fit.

 

I agree with that, it starts at home. They need to turn off the TV and learn to occupy themselves not have everything planned for them. They don't learn to think from a very young age. We didn't have the same choices or we may have been differnt.

 

I'll soon be 65 and spent 20 years in the auto parts business, mostly before computers and with nothing but a monster catalog rack, hand written invoices, reference books under the counter, the phone, a good memory and a new refill for my favorite pen every couple of weeks. I can still rattle off many of the old popular part numbers and even a few old phone numbers. When I go to my favorite parts store, I deal with the old guy. When I go to an unfamiliar store, I look for the old guy. Many of today's new breed of counter people have never been there, never done that and are lost without their computer, but there are a few who do know their stuff. The counter guy who knows what to ask and why and has many of the answers right in his head is a dying breed. I wish I was back doing that again. Every customer had a different problem and that's what made the life of a parts man challenging and exciting. Variety is the spice of life. Not to be forgotten, the few beers after a hard day with fellow gearheads.

 

Speaking of foreign cars having their own parts stores, when I first went to work in an auto parts store in 1981, Beck-Arnley was the foreign parts line that we could order, and we were cutting edge with that; some parts stores still had a "go to hell" policy on foreign parts. Yes, Tommy, in today's arena, anyone moaning about "I remember when the countermen knew all the part numbers in their heads" just pisses off the current counter help, since there are, easily, at least 50 times more part numbers to try to remember now than when I started.

 

ive kinda solved the parts issues that i had by using tyhe internet, and checking parts availability myself. that way i'm not frustrated when the part isnt in stock.
i was doing an axle swap on my s-10, and ran into a problem with ujoints
the internet solved my issue by being able to check dimensions on U-joints, then going to a message board and looking around there and confirming the part #
i walked into one of the major stores, told em the PN i needed, and walked away happy.
long gone are the days of just asking for a part/accesory and not having the counter"kid" look at you like you have 3 heads and a tail

 

Why expect the guy behind the counter to know more about your car than you do? if anybody should be remembering the part numbers that fit your car it's you!