http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac226/proracetech/7a49d4b4.jpg Kinda thing old parts guys keep around the house
So...A guy walks into a parts store. " I wanna pull an orphan engine out of a 40 year old truck, maybe, I'm gonna put a 25 year old 305 in it (maybe not) and I want you, (young counterman) to spend the next half hour chasing your tail through new parts books, that dont go back that far... OR go to the old parts books, with obsolete numbers,that nobody has stocked for 20 years. because I'm to lazy to do my own research" then "then I'll mailorder it and save 39.50" or "waddaya mean there isnt a kit?" or "Autozone has the same thing for half that" or "maybe I'll just keep the auto behind the 305" but "I will say a whole bunch of shit about you on the HAMB" all the while the kid makes $7.90 an hour, works 11 to 8, gets Tuesdays and Thursdays off.
Ok in partial defense of my fellow counter folk. Sorry guys but WE I.e. vintage rodders and folks who love to play with stuff in the past are not the driving force of the parts industry. Twenty years ago, sure you came in for a tune up and the question was, Chevy, Ford, Or Dodge. That was it! Three different oil filters, and done. Now it's crankshaft sensor, cam sensor, 02, knock, m.a.f., i.a.c., e.c.m, b.c.m!!!!! not to include do you have the right scan data, or even the correct tool to even do the job. ALL that wonderful b.s. that WE as traditional kustoms and hotrodders rebel against is what is stocked on the shelf. Yes you have to find the parts person that is willing. Even with the new stuff, I hate the fact that i have to retain all that b.s. when really all i want to remember is the firing order of an 8ba! "154836782" ok done ranting.... to help here's a link to NAPA Erack. That's electronic catalogs for the non computer folk. This is in no means all of them, but what they have to offer at this point in time via digital info. Hope this helps a few of you. http://ecatalograck.genpt.com/ecata...ecatalogparse.aspx?catid_linecode_partnumber= btw last comment..... some of the old gray hairs..... no less bout vintage stuff then some of us youngens.... we have a passion for it, they just want to get paid.
.. remember those cars and trucks with 3 holes on top of the battery? well unless its a 6v diesel its gonna have a 6v coil.. you should quit and sell oranges on the freeway...[/QUOTE] No, we don't remember, that was a decade before I was born, and I'm 45. These Parts stores MUST stock thousands of part numbers And honestly 1 to 2 percent of their sales are cool old stuff. Most Of the the time they are chasing crazy new Electric steering components or relays for accessories that cars shouldn't have.
well i was a conterman from 75 to 2000,25 yrs of long hrs and low pay.i was expected to be the mechanic and parts man. ive had people hold the phone to their car and ask me 'whats that sound like to you'. i was good at my job. hell ive been told i was the best. but that was a day long ago.i built cars after hrs because i loved hotrods.but if i was to go to work in a parts house today. i would be the pimple faced kid. man they got stuff on cars i dont even know what it is or were it goes or what it does.i went to pick up a set of points a couple days ago for a old iron head harley. chevy 6 points. the kid behind the counter had to get a book and try to look them up. he didnt know how to use the book.i got mad but i kept my mouth shut. when we got to the car i started rattin and raisen hell until i thought about it. for 1 thing the parts the kid sell are in the computer not a old book and they quit using points way before he was born. so some of it really wasnt his fault. but still i sure as hell miss the old days.
I heard that. I about got in a fist-fight with an old bastard that looked like Brian Dennehy at Autozone one time because he wouldn't believe that the 283 i was building had no damper bolt. He kept telling me that it was broken off and I would have to have the crank drilled and tapped for a new one. I'm not a hot-head and it really didn't bother me that much, but he was getting red-faced angry about the whole thing.
The only constant in life is change. The funny part after reading these post is I have to wonder, is life that hard for a lack of compassion for your fellow human? As an observer of life, I have noticed that a small percentage of the population is unhappy no matter the outcome and to those I wish you good day and thanks for not shopping with us. To those having a bad day, it's bound to get better. And to the majority of folks, life is good when we can stop and laugh at ourselves and realize that all the disappointment won't change anything, only a positive upbeat attitude will. And in closing, remember to pull up your own britches and be glad God allows you to breathe another day of gasloline and oil. The 7 P's are a thing to remember as well, "Pre Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance!"
Except for the living in the back part.....yes they exist. Right here in good ol Fort Worth....S and S Auto Parts. Its the real deal.
Just thought of another funny. Poor kid came into the store asking for a new hole. (!?) he was very serious, said his friend did a compression test and he had a dead hole.... Sent him to get a new one... Tee hee still funny to this day
I went in to autozone to get a thrush glasspack, temp muffler until I get my porter, they don't have then listed by length or size, just have to dig, the kid wanted to look it up by car lol, I didn't know thrush stuff came on factory systems? lol.. Oh just for shits and giggles, on my new stainless exhaust system I just made, I welded a sealed bearing on to part of it, just so I could say I have a real muffler bearing. now to work on that blinker fluid tank.............
Many a seasoned counterman has given up the business due to you, the general public. I got to the point of locking our front door during the day to keep you out. I made much more money from installers than from "Ronny Racer" and "Jalopy Joe". Oops, my attitude is showing!
The Jalopy Journal
