I am working on the Edsel and started on the brakes. The parts all came in yesterday and when I got my cyl.hone out I dropped it and broke a stone off. Not a big deal ,everyone carries those right. All three parts stores told me nope but they might be able to order them. I was told by one of them, "No-One rebuilds brake stuff anymore ,just buy new ones." I put starter bushings in it a week ago with new brushes,I suppose no-one does that either. Part of me is just a Cheap *** ,but are we so busy that repairing stuff is out of the question. Geez Louise,what will another 10 years bring.
yes, it seams like what used to be common place in parts stores is no longer. The sad thing is that when you are there you don't know if they really don't have what you are looking for or if the guy behind the counter has no idea of what you need and just says "we don't got it"
Not so much a question of busy as people won't work unless they make a mint on every job. Who wants to reline brakes when AutoGroan sells them for ten bux? That sort of thing. There just isn't any big money in fixing anything, its in selling another new piece of junk.
yes its sad. Its easier to buy a new one rather then fix the old one. We have become a throw away world.
Id say 98% of the time the idiot kid behind the counter has no idea what your talking about...why do you need my vin # for a wheel seal for my 69 Bronco....very irritating
I prefer to rebuild parts when I can, just because chevy starters can be such a pain to get the mesh right. They don't even charge a core for most brake shoes anymore. Used to be a $15 core.
This is what i hate not knowing if what they say is true.I went to get some metal brake lines and the guy said we don't carry them, so i had to show him the rack that the other employee got them from the day before.
I have not had to buy a stone recently, but I have been in your shoes, NAPA always seems to have things like that, but my NAPA store still rebuilds stuff.. I also have a local guy that can rebuild a starter or an alternator for less than half the cost of the ones at the parts stores...and he doesn't cut corners, I have stood there while he did it. I hope you find the stone soon, and don't give up.
Since the kids at the counter have no idea we are lucky they have the vin system, otherwise who the hell knows what parts we would end up with. You might have got a real seal that rides a horse!! It's just a pity the 2% of people there who know their parts are slowed down by the computer inventory system.
it's kinda what struck me when attending bodyshop cl*** there isn't that much repairing anymore ,just replacing parts for new ones.. things you wouldn't be doin at home to save yourself a couple o bucks i mean ,at the shop it's most of the time paid for by insurance companies
Funny - I am still seeking work - would love to return to parts but they won't even call me back for an interview- I guess 26 years in parts is too much to understand... its a talent-less field now thanks to internet sites, cost shaving and a drive to self service. Its a bummer to have part numbers in my head for cars like ours and can't do any good with them...
You know too much and would be too expensive in their eyes. Young help is minimum wage. I try to rebuild what I can. I've rebuilt two staters for my Studebaker, and I rebuilt my alternator. I plan on rebuilding my fuel pump too. A lot of the 'new' stuff is chinese and isn't really a quality part. I'd rather buy the tools to do it myself.
i like $2 wheel cyl rebuilds and $10 master cyl rebuilds and i like doing it myself so i am with ya. i think a lot has changed in the last 10 years about what the part stores are carrying, and changed for no good.
Maybe it isn't the idiot kid as much as it's the way their software program is set up. The vin gives them a lot of information. Also Ford split a lot of stuff mid year in 1969, and several other years as well, they were notorious for running production changes back then. I had a 69 F250 and a lot of the seals required you to know the vin so to get the right part. I don't kit old wheel cylinders much anymore either. Why would you take the time to kit an old pitted one when you can have a brand new one for just a couple bucks more in most applications? Last ones I kitted were the front on my 62 Sunliner because new ones were $62 each.
It's all part of this "Green Movement" they are pushing nowdayz....When'st I was a young lad we got milk in a returnable bottle, took soda bottles back to the store for refill and a jillian other things like that...Heck, they even had folks that repaired shoes 'n stuff.....NOW They sell ya a soda in a plastic ''throw away '' bottle the give U Heck if you throw it away in your ''plastic trash bag'' with all the other ''recyclable '' stuff !!!!!
i'm to stuborn to NOT rebuild a part or a tool evean if it costs more, cause i KNOW what that part or tool can do , and i don't KNOW the new ones.
All business operations are "in it" for the profit. They need to "move" their inventory, The once called upon wheel cylinder kit in 4 years, does not cons***ute the space/inventory taxes to keep it on the shelf. A matter of economics. As far as the seemingly bazaar questions asked to find a part in the computer goes, it is a matter of the way their "catalogging" is set up, the questions need to be addressed before they can get to the next screen. Experienced parts people will put in an answer to get to the next screen (knowing it is not necessary..therefore not asking a stupid question). As a member of this brotherhood of old cars is concerned, you learn about your car, and parts sourcing/research plays a big part of that. There are often discussions on here about your old car as a "daily driver", that's great if you can pull it off, but part of the problem with that is when it needs some repair, and then not being able to obtain the replacement part, in a hurry. Patience is our friend. "Times..they are a changing".
The auto parts stores around here wont turn a drum or a rotor anymore, and shops won't turn them unless the work is done there because of liability issues, they just want you to buy new ones. I say we form a HAMB Co-op...
I asked one counter kid for a set of points and condenser for a SBC. He asked me "What are points"?....
Recently I was doing some brakes. I just needed some kits for the rear cylinders. Believe it or not, the kits were $2 more then new complete wheel cylinders. Sad. And I checked every parts store within 20 miles.
I paid a shop $100 to turn 2 front brake drums. Guess that is why I don't go there now. Didn't know the price until I went to to pick them up. Bossman told me he had to charge me one hour for the tech's time. I got the message.
Then you'd probably have more than 20 years experience than the guy that would be hiring you, then you'd make him look bad. Managers have a hard time dealing with employees that know more than they do. ****s getting old and wise, damn to be young and stupid again...
These parts stores on every corner are not there to help you fix your car. They are there to make money, profit, and utilize marketing to get it done. The shelf space needed for brake cylinder hones will provide more profit used for stickers or some undercarriage neon nonsense. Its cheaper to send cores over seas and have them rebuilt and shipped back than it is to fix it here. Pretty soon it will be just away of life. Nobody will know how to do that stuff here. Get used to it or become self sufficient and extremely proficient at finding What you need on the computer.
I just rebuilt the MC on my 55 Olds Sunday, the kit was under $20 online but I did not have a hone. My buddy who was helping me told me that the local O'Riellys had specialty loaner tools so we headed out to borrow a hone. When we told the kid at the counter that we needed a MC hone he came back with a cylinder hone! told him we needed one that would do a 1 inch bore and his response was that this was the smallest one and that was all he could help us with. After thanking him and walking down the tool isle we found a new hone for 18.00, took it back to the counter and all he would say is "did you find everything you need?" anyway we got the job done and the counter kid now knows what a MC hone looks like and they have them in stock.
you are right on there 31vicky. accountants are responsible for all this. They want the dollars tied up in inventory to be making more dollars, so only the fast turnover products. They want to be able to buy from someone else who will guarantee next day delivery, so that guy needs the big warehouse, plus they can make him wait 90 days for his money, while they have 90 days to make more money with the dollars you just gave them. they don't care if you get your car fixed today, they just want your money when you come in to pick up the stuff they order from the other guy.
What will another 10 years bring? How about in another 40 years? That's why right now, I'm trying to get myself into a position of self sufficiency so that I can make my own parts from scratch. Because that is where we're headed. Kinda like making moonshine, it'll be illegal to work on our own stuff to make ourselves happy. My brother runs a part store, and so I find out firsthand how depressing getting parts is, lol.
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