Funniest lines from the parts counter

My Napa counter girl was Jen. Sigh.

 

All this gender talk reminds me of when I asked a young lady behind the counter what they got for a 350 trans for a 70 chevy pickup, she said the y showed 2, a regular one and a BOP. I told her I did not need one for a Buick, Olds, or Pontiac. She actually thanked me, seems no one ever told her what that meant. At least she was trying to learn.

 

He could have been right. There is a fundamental difference between DOT3 and 4 and the DOT5 fluid. DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 are compatible... but not with DOT5. He probably assumed you had older glycol based fluid, and would need to upgrade to new seals before switching to silicon-based DOT5.

Did you tell him you already had silicone fluid in the system?

Cheers,
Harv

 

Them other two cows were lucky to dodge the chigguns.

Cheers,
Harv

 

Back in the '60's before 4x4 was a common term for 4 wheel drive, I went to the parts store to get something for a Ford pickup. Counter guy asked me if it had the 4 (feet) X 4 (feet) bed.

 

my first thought was this is unanswerable because we dont know the total number of cows and chickens, but the answer just came to me.
28

total of cows is 58..30 go into barn and 28 "chicken out"
theres no chickens

 

Hint: Cows don't eat chickens.

 

A knowledgeable parts man is a godsend. I used to occasionally buy special bolts from a local Caterpillar repair shop, things you couldn't buy anywhere. I would just describe the item, diameter, length, thread pitch, and he would just go get them. For a price he would then look in his computer at a specific machine, and write it up. Sadly, that huge shop closed, so I'm at a loss for special bolts.

 

20-25 years ago my go to place for parts was my local NAPA. the place had been there longer than i could remember and had stuff from the 50s an 60s in stock.
one day i went in asking for a sleeve for a harmonic balancer for a small block chevy.
the guy behind the counter was new to me. he asked me what year, make, and model.
i told him it didnt matter.
he insisted, so i played along.
1957 chevy bel air with a 350
he typed that into the computer and told me that doesnt exist..
that's when the old guy that had been watching all along asked me and walked over and grabbed a small box off the shelf without having to look up a part #.

i aint puttin down young/new guys and i aint saying i know everything, but i love the old dudes that dont need the computer.....at lest for the old stuff

 

The thing that I found baffling is that the old farts can run circles around their younger counterparts when searching for parts. Every retail situation I've had with someone younger if they can't find it in the first couple of results it simply doesn't exist

 

Experience is what you get when you don't have any/

 

I know a guy from back in the '70s that ran a parts store when I was a snot-nosed kid that thought I knew everything about cars. We became friends, and talked about cars, fishing and drinking beer. A while back he retired from being a counter guy at the local NAPA. The kids behind the counter that knew him still talk about him with reverence! He told me a story about running a parts store in KC Mo. and the local guys would come in looking for a "gold nugget for a deuce & a quarter" (bronze fuel filter for a Quadrajet on a Buick 225)

 

Hello,

Our friend from high school worked at our neighborhood auto parts store. He was the delivery guy and since it was a short bicycle ride from our house straight down our street until one gets to PCH and the auto parts store. It was a very busy intersection. Our dad used the automated hand car wash across the street on one corner.

On that side of PCH was one of our favorite hamburger plus fresh cut thick french fry stands in the whole area (Friar Tuck’s it should have said Fryer Tuck) was the busiest place at lunch. The Golden Star Charbroil had not arrived as yet. (the Golden Star is still around down the street, serving the original char-broil burgers and hot dogs)

Then on our home side of the PCH corner was one of the first spray and wash businesses and the auto parts store that was the only one in a three mile distance of the neighborhood. It was also busy daily, due to the truck parts and shops in the general area.

So,we knew the counter manager quite well. He was always interested in what we were doing in our backyard garage, from 1957 to 1965. He gave us discounts in all of our purchases and by early 1960, he had talked us into some sponsorship if we painted his auto parts store on our Willys Coupe.

In a discussion with my brother during his 1960 burn recovery, he mentioned that our future Willys look would have been yellow with Olympic Auto Parts drawn on the side and Reath Automotive on the trunk.

But, after drawing and filling in a yellow color, it looked awful.

The silver would have been more appealing.

So, yes, we would have been very competitive in the C/Gas class while looking good chasing that elusive national record and trophy. Bright yellow paint, Olympic Auto Parts and Nakamura Brothers on the side with a possible Reath Automotive on the trunk lid was the future look that we discussed before the accident.


Jnaki

“You want what???” After telling the counter person we needed longer, Pink, Lodge Spark Plugs for our newly created 671 supercharged 292 c.i. SBC blower spec motor for our Willys Coupe. At Reath, Mickey Thompson’s Shop and Joe Mailliard’s Shop, we should have purchased the recommended Lodge Sprak Plugs.

But we even though of driving up to Los Angeles to Wilcap, since they had the lowest price on those Pink Lodge Spark Plugs. (it would have been worth the drive) All of the Long Beach shops were recommending them for our motor build. One set to fire up and tune and make a run. Then when eliminations came, put in the new set, same gap and go racing.
to be placed on both doors…
But, my brother wanted to get something started with our own Olympic Auto Parts Store, since it was right down the street from our house. We had been going to that store for the usual stuff for our own cars and they knew us well. At the time, they wanted to get into a different form of advertising and my brother was talking a “deal” with them. We already were buying parts for everything we owned and then some since 1956.

In two days, we had two sets of Pink Lodge Spark Plugs in our hands. They were listening.
possible 1939 Willys future
the custom 1940 Willys family