A parts guy's gripe

[Pokey]

OK, first a disclaimer, this isn't directed at any of you. :)
Just a general gripe.

Don't use the phrase "doesn't matter they are all the same" and for heavens sakes dont tell your wife that when you send her to the parts store.

On second thought, don't send her to the parts store, she prolly doesn't know a V-8 from a W-12. (unless she is cool like us)

If the parts guy asks you if its 2WD or 4WD on your truck, there is a reason.

KNOW YOUR VEHICLE! So many times the wrong parts have come in because the guy said "I think it's an 88" and it turns out its a "98"

Get to know the parts guys you trust, since they rarely fail you unless the damn book or computer is wrong. (as long as the info is right!)

Once you found a parts guy you can trust, stay loyal because bad things happen in parts, and the guy you deal with all the time can make things right.

Be nice when you get wrong parts due to things out of the parts guy's control. Yeah he ordered whatever part, and got some other part instead.

I can think of countless other times where I got roasted as a parts guy, either aftermarket or at Ford, and none are pleasant.

[Jim Demmitt Jr]

Parts Guy

Its not an easy job my uncle was a service manager at Lake Tahoe Ford and he helped at the parts service counter time to time boy the headachs and storys he told about dealing with the public

[THE BIRDMAN]

Yeah I did the parts guys thing for a few years.I had a loyal following of people that only dealt with me.But yeah i used to love the guys who would come in with a sensor or relay and be like I need a new one of these.Ok so you say what's the relay or sensor for?They're like I dunno what its for or what it does.Ok where in the engine compartment did you removed it?of course they don't know that either.Then I would ask them if you don't know what it is or what it does then how do you know its bad?Cause my buddy said so.Then of course they look at you like you're the idiot and don't know what your talking about.



Jay

[David Neibert]

I used to be a parts manager for a Ford tractor dealership way back when I lived in Texas. Don't miss that job at all.

David

[WhiteThunder]

When I worked on the service side parts counter of a Ford dealership a mechanic came in and asked for a head gasket set for a ’69 V-8 Ford – I believe it was a 429, that he did a valve job on.

I looked it up, on the microfiche system (yeah, I’m old). It showed that there was a mid-year production change for the head gasket set. There was two different head gasket sets depending on whether the car was built before or after a certain month.

I told the mechanic I needed the production date off the door jam. He got mad and said, “A 429 is a 429. They’re all the g-d same.”

Then he announced he was going to get a cup of coffee and I better have the gasket set waiting for him when he got back. I jumped the counter, went into the shop, looked at the production date on the car, came back to the parts department and saw that only the wrong ’69 429 head gasket set was on the shelf. I brought it up to the counter and billed it to the ticket.

When Mr. They’re-All-The-Same came back, he took the gasket set and assembled the engine. When he started it up, big clouds of black smoke came out of the dual exhaust.

For three days just about every mechanic in the shop, from the service manager on down looked at that engine trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally the mechanic tore it down. He still didn’t find anything wrong.

When he came in, the correct ’69 head gasket set was on the shelf. I brought it up, billed it to a shop ticket (the customer wasn’t billed a 2nd time) and he went back to work. After assembling the top of the engine again the car fine. No smoke.

I never said a word to anyone at the dealership about the whole deal, knowing I would be booted out the door if anyone found out I knew what was up.

eddie
'90 5-speed SC
'97 LX sport

[BArtkowsky]

Oh man, younz got me crackin up. I work at a parts store and i experience the same crap. One time a lady came in and couldnt pronounce the name of her car, so she had to spell it, lol. I get alot of the "its an 89 (when its a 98) and i bring them the part and show it to them they throw a hissy fit and i say you said it was a .... and then theyre like oh i meant a 98, lol. And I get A LOT of "I need one of these" and they dont know what its for. Or people come in for tractor parts and bulldozer parts, Oh yeah let me just get that off the shelf when you dont know what it is and there is no part # to cross refence it. And I love the people who are like just look up this year of car but its entirely different vehicle. And dont throw a hissy fit when we ask if you have 9 or 10 inch rear drums. hmm.... If you dont know anythign about your vehicle you probably shouldnt be working on it till u find out. Oh and if you have wipers put on in the rain or snow or when it is freezing, a 2 dollar tip isnt gonna kill you especially when we have to run inside to get a screwdriver when your clips bust and we have to dig the old clips off. And 5 or 10 dollars wouldnt kill you for a battery too, especially if its raining or snowing or 0 degrees out and one of them takes forever cause you dont take care of your vehicle and your terminals are corroded away and need replaced and you buy new ones and we replace them out of our own kindness against company policy. But you cant help but laugh at half of the people who come in, especially when they have to come back 3 times cause they still dont know. Oh and the people that dont understand core charges that think if they bring the old one in that it takes the core charge off the regular price, they crack me up too

[koldhearted1]

it sucks doing that but try having to do it in espaniol!!! now that makes life fun and they dont have any english skills so you end up having to try to find someone that talks spanish or try to go by guestimates and playing charades. i had to work in the hispanic section of town for a bit at the local autozone and that sucked. they always asked us if we "speaka spanish?" i do but only as a last resort......kind of annoyed me after a while when they would take advantage of that.

[Pokey]

HAHA! Yeah for sure man.
Then there is the guys that come up to the counter needing an oil filter. You look it up, go to the back and grab it, and when you get back to the counter he says, oh and I need an air filter for it too. So you repeat the process, get back to the counter, and he says oh I need a fuel filter for it too. ARRRRGH!

I have done some evil things to the "They are all the same" guys.
"Hey, I need a starter for my Chevy 350."
"OK, what year?"
"Doesn't matter they are all the same."
glance out the window and see an old beater Chev parked out front
"OK sir, I will be right back."
Go in the back and grab a starter for a Vortech Chevy 350. heh heh.
"have a nice day!"

Another one was just a bad day for me. PO'd already, and a mechanic was pissing me off even more. We had two seperate starter jobs going on at the Ford dealership, one was like an Escort or some little 4 cylinder. The other was an ambulance with a 7.3L powerstroke. Well I already had the starter for the little car sitting in the parts/service window. The mechanic working on the ambulance came up to the window, grabbed the little starter and started going off. "Dumb effing parts guys, blah blah ^%#@%&$" Well I was about 10 feet from the window and happened to have his big friggin starter in my hands. I said "HERE'S your damn starter!" and hurled it at him as hard as I could. To my surprise he actually caught the damn thing! Stumbled back a few feet, put his cigarette back in his mouth, turned around and walked off without saying a word. The guys that were there and still work there LOVE telling that story. When I went back to work there the second time years later, the same situation was developing and a guy that witnessed the first one was standing next to a mechanic giving me a hard time about something. He told him "you better be careful, unless you feel like catching a starter." Heh heh, lessons learned.

I know some of you other guys probably have some good stories, this could get real interesting. :D

Later
Glenn

[Cox Abele]

id agree. I worked in parts for many years while in college. I managed a few departments and seemed to be the go-to guy when tough questions were asked.

Any more I find myself befuddled when I need to work with counter jockys. Just the other day I purchased a Cloyes gear drive from Autozone. When the part arrived, I requested a timing set just to be very clear on my disappointment. The counter goons couldn't understand why the part wouldn't work when clearly there would be no tooth contact between the gears and the crank gear was roughly 3/4 of an inch too small to fit over the snout.


Any more I like to return to the stores I used to work. Not because the people let me wander and get my own parts, or because I know how to work the systems for some pretty good discounts, but because I can look up my own parts and do my own research in order to figure out what is best for my car. I can't tell you how many times someone's reccomended a fram oil filter on my next oil change and not know a thing about their crappy internals.


Long story short, I feel ya. It's not an easy industry to be employeed in. Either people know more than you when they walk in, or they don't know a damn thing and want you to solve their timing belt failure with a magic mechanic in a bottle that they can pour in their oil/gas.

[BArtkowsky]

pokey you hit the nail on the head with the 350 thing too. lol

[Pokey]

I can't tell you how many times someone's reccomended a fram oil filter on my next oil change and not know a thing about their crappy internals.

While we don't deal with Fram, we use Parts Plus and Wix filters, and whenever I can, I try to sell the people Wix. If I think they won't understand the internal differences, I just bring out both, tell them to pick up both filters and feel the weight difference. Sure we make more money for the store selling the Parts Plus filters, but I don't like selling junk to people lol. Some people can't be convinced though, they want the absolute cheapest you can get.

There are some people that come in and you are thinking to yourself... ohhhh great this yahoo again.
Then there are other people that come in and will rattle off every piece of info you need as fast as you can scribble it down in your little book, or they even have a part number.
THEN there are the guys that you just grin when they come in, because you know by the time they leave your guts are going to hurt from laughing.

[BArtkowsky]

and i love how people pull up to the front space in front of the antifreeze that is displayed in the front window and they come in and walk the whole way to the back of the store by the oil and then proceed to yell "wheres your antifreeze", lol, same thing with headlights, they stand right in front of them and ask where they are, lol, or People who call in and are like how much will it cost me to do an oil change on my 97 subaru whatever.... Ok let me walk the store and get you all the prices for oil and filter, come on now (that happened about a week and a half ago)

[txsc]

These are all great stories; funny stuff!

Now, from the other side of the counter (as stated above, this isn't directed at any of you)...

I'm sick and tired of going into any one of the "reputable national chain" parts stores only to be greeted by some slack-jawed teenager who only has a vauge idea of what a car is, and no idea of how any of it works. A tip-off is the beat-to-death, primered, ricer imports, covered in stickers sitting in the employee parking area; Always a goooooood sign.

I feel like choking the life out of the little **** when I say "Thunderbird", and he asks ".....uh...that's a Ford,.....right?", or some other equally brilliant thing. Then he proceeds to play 20 questions, reading the computer screen. I'm sorry, but some things are just intuitive if you've ever opened the hood on a car. Then, I love it when they try to "suggestive sell" me things when I'm buying a part. Or tell me how this brand is better than so-and-so, and it's worth the extra $39.99, etc.

Any more, I just do my research on the internet (if I don't already know what I need), write down the manufacturer name, part number, and internet price on a piece of paper, and slide it across the counter. Even then, I've gotten arguements about how they "don't carry that", even when it's their web site I've gotten the part numbers from.

I miss the good ol' days when the parts store was a local business, ran by the same crusty old guy for the last 40 years. He could recite part numbers from memory, and find any part in the place in 30 seconds. Even though there was no obvious organization of any kind, and everything behind the counter had a generous layer of dust on it. Everything came in a box, not a blister pack with neon colors. You couldn't buy "styling accessories", blue head light bulbs, toys, or fuzzy steering wheel covers there. Just car parts.

He knew you by sight, and knew what you drove by memory. If you really needed a part on Sunday, you could call him at home and he'd come down, open up, and sell you what you need. The old place smelled like dust and smoke, and cutting fluid from the machine shop in the back (ran by his brother). The same characters always hung out there, and sat on the stools by the counter and smoked, and BS'ed each other, and made fun of us kids who came in to buy parts for our "hot rods" because we "didn't know a damn thing". But, they'd still let you hang around and listen to the lie sessions.

The machine shop had rows of cylinder heads lined up waiting, and your Hemi heads were sitting next to the John Deere heads, and you'd wait your damn turn. There were old photos on the wall above the desk of a younger version of the proprieter, with his foot up on the front wheel of a 32 Ford, or holding a checkered flag next to his stock car, or sitting on an old Harley Davidson. You got the feeling that he'd been there/done that, and you should probably listen to what he had to say about your Hemi heads. It was a place not only to get parts, but to get information from people who knew. And if they couldn't answer your question, they could point you in the right direction to someone (usually a relative) down at the garage, or the Plymouth dealership, or farm, who could.

So, to all of you good, old-school parts guys; Thank You! You are truly worth your weight in gold. There aren't as many around as there used to be.

JD

[Pokey]

You got that right BArtkowsky!
Our Antifreeze is right underneath our sales counter, so if someone walks in the front door, and someone is standing behind the counter, when we greet them they have to look right at us, with all the coolant right underneath/in front of us. They browse the store for a few, going all the way to the far wall where the oil is, just like yours, then walk up to the counter and say "where's your antifreeze?"
"Right at your knees." :)
That one is more amusing than it is annoying though. Unless they look at all the different jugs of coolant obviously not knowing which one to get. So you try to help them out and ask the usual questions, and get screwed up years, makes, etc etc. haha!

[racecougar]

My little pet peeve from the other side of the counter:

If I give you the part number of the part that I need, which I've either taken the time to find and verify or I already know by heart, don't ask me for the year/make/model/engine/etc. of the vehicle it's for. I know what I'm asking for.

A quick example: I walk into the local Autozone, and I ask the clerk for a K061073 serpentine belt. The clerk begins asking the usual questions and starts to try to look it up in the computer. I was in the mood to play along, so I answered the questions...

"Year?" "1990"
"Make" "Mercury"
"Model" "Cougar"
"Engine" "5.0L DOHC stroker with a Kenne Bell 2.1L SC on top, running a 2.875" blower pulley, a 5.25" crank pulley, and an electric water pump."

....

What was that part number again? "K061073"
I'll go grab one for you. "Yeah." :D


The good news is that most of the employees at the local auto parts stores know me by now. :)

-Rod

[Pokey]

JD sounds like you need to move to my town, that is sortof what we are like. Parts Plus chain stores are owner operated, and yes, many of the people that come in we already know what kind of car/truck they are working on. For example a guy we know can come in and say "I need a power steering pump for the truck". Ok for your old Ford or the wifes Tundra? etc etc.
We don't do any machine work, can't smoke in the store, but know most everyone by first name, but yes we have opened up after hours to get some dumb part that a guy needed to finish the job that night for whatever reason. Small town thing I guess.

I have been on the other side of the counter too, not always a parts guy. I was trying to resurrect a 61 Bug that had sat for many MANY years, everything was complete, so I changed the oil in it. I went to the Napa store in town to pick up some non detergent oil since I wasn't sure if it had ran since the coming of detergent oils. (Running an old bug engine that never had detergent oils will kill a motor faster than you can say oops due to the crud build up in the oil cooler. Washes it out, all kinds of junk into the motor.) So anyway, they kept trying to sell me their Napa brand, which was not non detergent, and then the yahoo tried to sell me an oil filter for it.... ummm yeah, gimme a friggin thermostat for it too nitwit.

[Pokey]

HAHA Rod, I have been into the city's parts stores, and that is the same kind of thing I run into. That is a Gates part number, and even if I worked at some other store, that number is easily cross referenced to another brand.
People like you "should" make a part's guys life easy, but some people that work at them get paid very little because their intellect reflects it. :cool:

We have an 18 year old kid that helps us out (part owners son, go figure) but if he runs into any "complex" abbreviations like w/o AC, w/AP, or w/PS, he is lost. Teens make terrible parts guys, sure they are good with computers, but that is all they are good at, besides cell phone texting, and looking at myspace. I nicknamed him Stump, since all he does is sit there, get in the way, and is a damn eyesore. I straight up told him he is f~~~~~g worthless, don't care if he is the part owner's son.

[ecyrbh]

I'll never forget the time(probably about '85),there was a Ford dealership in San Antonio by the name of Gillespie.(JD I think I've already told you this one).A woman came in to the Carquest that I worked for and asked for a part for her '69 Ford.I in turn asked her what model it was and she said that she was unsure.She walked outside,looked at the trunklid,walked back inside and replied,(YOU GUESSED IT)........IT'S A "GILLESPIE"...........

[neverfastenough]

My little pet peeve from the other side of the counter:

If I give you the part number of the part that I need, which I've either taken the time to find and verify or I already know by heart, don't ask me for the year/make/model/engine/etc. of the vehicle it's for. I know what I'm asking for.

A quick example: I walk into the local Autozone, and I ask the clerk for a K061073 serpentine belt. The clerk begins asking the usual questions and starts to try to look it up in the computer. I was in the mood to play along, so I answered the questions...

"Year?" "1990"
"Make" "Mercury"
"Model" "Cougar"
"Engine" "5.0L DOHC stroker with a Kenne Bell 2.1L SC on top, running a 2.875" blower pulley, a 5.25" crank pulley, and an electric water pump."

....

What was that part number again? "K061073"
I'll go grab one for you. "Yeah." :D


The good news is that most of the employees at the local auto parts stores know me by now. :)

-Rod


Lol that gave me a good laugh, My little rant, I hate when people confuse a t-bird with a firebird:mad: I actually left a pep boys when the kid clicked pontiac after I said thunderbird sc

[dwayne]

I went into our local autozone and told the guy at parts counter i needed a temp control synscer for a 89 sc ,what kind of car is that.you know the regular bull,gives me a box,pay for it got home was the one for the temp guage.go back oh we dont carry that part or is a special order part.advance auto is worse never have what you need.

[Pokey]

I'll never forget the time(probably about '85),there was a Ford dealership in San Antonio by the name of Gillespie.(JD I think I've already told you this one).A woman came in to the Carquest that I worked for and asked for a part for her '69 Ford.I in turn asked her what model it was and she said that she was unsure.She walked outside,looked at the trunklid,walked back inside and replied,(YOU GUESSED IT)........IT'S A "GILLESPIE"...........

THAT... is classic. I think I would die from laughing from something like that.:D

[rad_al_]

I can see both sides of this one.
I work at a bicycle shop... not a small one either. We prolly have more cubic feet of warehouse than 3 autozones put together (www.danscomp.com). I get to hear the customer ask for a tire, tubes, pedals, etc but have no clue what size they need. And yes, I too hate to go back 50 yards into the warehouse only to have the punk BMX'er say he needs something else that's way back there too. What's worse is the older road biker or Mtn biker that does the same thing... because they're supposed to be adults! We also sell clothing... do you know how many people have no clue what size t-shirts they wear??? Then there's service work. Saturdays are prolly our busiest day. There's 10 customers asking questions & trying to get waited on by 2 guys that work that day. Then you have the dumb-a$$ that comes in, sees how busy we are & asks if there's any possibility to get a complete bicycle built up because it's his kids birthday tomorrow... "well jackass, ya should have thought about that more than 1 day before his birthday." Now it's my fault & I've ruined his kid's birthday!!!
Now for me being the "jackass" on the other side of the counter...
Why is it that the people at autozone (or wherever) tell me my '94 Thunderbird SC 5-speed is turbo charged, has an aftermarket 5-speed ("because Thunderbirds only came with auto tranny's"), has rear drum brakes and ask me if I know the difference between drums & discs, is FWD, asks if it's a 4.6 or a 302, have no clue what kind of alternator it uses, why I need Z rated tires, etc...???

[CMac89]

This is what happens when I go in, about everything.

"Hi, I need a belt for this part number."
"Okay, sir...What's it for?"
"Uhhh....Hi, I need a belt for this part number."

"I need some good spark plugs."
"Sir, I recommend you getting these Champions."
"Soooo.....I need some good spark plugs."

One time I asked if they had pistons for an RX8 in stock. Their sister stores didn't even have them.:(

[rad_al_]

THESE STORIES ARE CRACKING ME UP!!!:cool::p:o:D

[2TonCat]

No bad stories from me, but I know my parts guys... Usually just goto Ford (2 minutes from my house) for anything strange... They put up with me getting gaskets and bolts from 8 different vehicles, etc. One of them even knows my name :eek:

[Pokey]

One time I asked if they had pistons for an RX8 in stock. Their sister stores didn't even have them.:(

We stock those at my store along with the pushrods for it! HEHE!

[rad_al_]

Ha ha... it took me a while but I get it now!!!

[THE BIRDMAN]

If you wanna have a parts guy scratching his head even one who knows a good deal about cars just go in a ask for anything for a 83 corvette.And specify that whatever you need is 83 model year specific and is different on the 82 and 84 models.They'll get frustrated.



Jay

[ecyrbh]

..............How 'bout...Upper Ball Joints for a '78 Ford Fairmont............

[WhiteThunder]

About a year or so ago - at a local NAPA store.

"I need a thermostat gasket for my '90 Thunderbird Super Coupe."

The parts guy, who looked like he just dropped out of high school: "You can't get a thermostat gasket unless you buy the thermostat."

I knew he was wrong so I say, "Ok, then give me a thermostat."

A couple of minutes later he comes from the back with the thermostat in the box and hands it to me. I open it up and say, "Well, where's the gasket?"

The parts guy, "Oh." Turned out they didn't have the gasket anyway.

I use a different NAPA store now. It's not as close to home, but "Big John" has been there a zillion years and knows the difference between a cotter key and an ignition key.

eddie
'90 5-speed SC
'97 LX sport

[garsc]

Back in 1974 {God I'm old} I worked for a locally owned big box store that had an automotive dept. One day an old gentleman walked in and wanted a set of spark plugs we had on sale. When I asked what year and make car he had he replied he had a 1956 white Ford, looking in the parking lot I noticed a white 65 but no 56.When I asked what size motor he had he replied by holding his hands about 2 feet apart and saying it was about this long and this wide.Well after determining all the V8s took the same plug I pulled a set of 8 off the shelf and sent him on his way.A co worker saw this and said he will be back too return them cause they were bound to be the wrong ones. I told him that the only engines available was an inline 6 and V8s andhe obviously indicated an 8.He never returned the plugs and became my best customer. Being a parts guy requires you to think on your feet, most kids these days cant. By the way I was 19 at the time.:D

[Pokey]

Being a parts guy requires you to think on your feet, most kids these days cant. By the way I was 19 at the time.:D

I totally agree, if someone doesn't know what engine they have, what year exactly, or even what model, most parts guys that know anything can usually figure it out. You can tell the ones that won't be able to figure anything out because of that "deer in the headlights" look they get when their trusty little puter doesn't show what they need. God forbid they open a book or bust out a set of dial calipers to figure out some obscure thing.
Why is it this way? What happened to the generation that is supposed to be supporting me when I can retire?
My theory is too much technology. They rely too much on computers and the internet to do everything. When I was still working at the Ford dealership, I went into the back smoking area where my friend worked. We looked out the window at the local football field and saw some kids building a snowman. I asked him when the last time he saw kids doing that, he couldn't remember and I could not either. That is our future, they can build snowmen on the computer, so why go out and get cold, and figure out how to make the snowballs stick and roll better. If anything, up the math requirements for these kids to graduate. Higher math is not only for high tech jobs, but it develops complex thinking.

Anyway, back on topic.
I am 33, about 3 years total counting being a submarine machinery division parts guy for about a year. My boss/owner/coworker has been in auto parts since he was 16 or so and is now about my age, and the other parts guy is 60 years old and has worked in every kind of parts store you could imagine.
Then we have the kid. The only thing he is good for is dirtbike parts, since we have a powersports section in the store, and he races dirtbikes. But many times he forgets to order stuff because he is too busy texting on his cell phone or looking at myspace to order anything. His head is not in the game.

[rad_al_]

Why is it sooo cool to walk into a retail store carrying your can of Amp soda or bottle of Coke? Are you that thirsty that you can't leave it in the vehicle or just so insecure that it's like a security blanket???

[franky_402]

i just recently went to autozone to look up a part, i walk up tell him i have a 94, he asked what kind of car i tell him thunderbird, he clicks something else and proceeded to ask what size engine i tell him he has the wrong car i have a thunderbird so he tries to use the scroll wheel and keeps selectin the wrong car and is asking for the engine size, so finally he finds thunderbird after about 5 minutes and i go to tell him it was the sc'ed 6 but he had clicked on na 6 before i could speak and asked what i need and i tell him he has the wrong engine, so finally he selects the right engine, i swear i was about to take the mouse from this guy and find the part myself!!!

[garsc]

I worked ay Autozone for a few months till the crazy hours got me. When I need a part I just go to the parts terminal and look it up myself,usually before anyone notices I am there.At the store I worked at I was the only one including the store manager who ever worked on cars. I dont know why they dont try to hire more former mechanics,I was the guy everyone would come to when they couldnt find a part. Customers like to ask questions and get advise from some who has done it and get all the stuff they need the first time.

[Mike Puckett]

I can really relate to these stories. I also hate it when the counter guy can't find anything without getting the year, make, and model, stuff, especially when it's a generic nonspecific part and it won't be listed by make and model. When they ask me what kind of car, I tell them it'll fit on any kind of car and they are then totally stumped.
One Sat I was finishing up rebuilding one of my 5 spds and I stripped one of the front cover bolt holes. I went over to PEP Boys to get a Helicoil kit to repair the bolt hole with and not one of the counter or floor people including the manager even knew what a Helicoil was. One nonenglish speaking guy kept trying to sell me bolts.:rolleyes: When I finally found one in the size I needed in the tool section I made a point of sticking it in each of their faces with a patronizing a tone of voice, "This is a Helicoil, duh!"
And I'm really fed up with the smartass teenagers who know little to nothing about cars and try to tell me all about mine when they don't know squat.
Oh yeh, and I hate the tire salesmen who insist on selling me expensive Z rated 225/60/16 tires when I ask for a specific tire. They then try to tell me how my car won't handle right, the suspension won't work right, etc, etc. One mechanic even told me my drag racer still had the original stock suspension on it when it's got the lowered Tokico springs and Illumina II shocks.

[CMac89]

I'm currently getting a little tired of having to order every little part, while paying shipping on top of it, because no one ever has the parts I need. AZ, Advanced, Auto, etc.. doesn't ever have anything in stock for an SC.

Same story for my race motors. I mean, a grocery store probably stocks gasket kits and pumps for a SBC, BBC, SBF, BBF, but you have to drive to China to get anything for a Pontiac. That's if they still manufacturer the item, whatever it may be.

This includes certain tools, too.

[Pokey]

I'm currently getting a little tired of having to order every little part, while paying shipping on top of it, because no one ever has the parts I need. AZ, Advanced, Auto, etc.. doesn't ever have anything in stock for an SC.

Unfortunately due to how rare our cars are, most parts houses won't stock items for them unless they are in common with many other rigs. Usually the inventory is based on stocking items that sell, and stuff that won't sell hardly at all are left off inventory. For example, before I got my car running again, my store didn't stock things for our cars like belts, rad hoses, things like that. I got my car running, but didn't worry about our stocking parts since I could get most everything overnight anyway. Then I spied another supercoupe in town, so I changed our stock levels for the more common items.
The inventory is just one of those things that needs to be purged once in awhile to get rid of stock that hasn't sold in over a year, and bring in new stuff that will sell. The exception to that is the cheapo parts, t-stats, belts, hoses, stuff that doesn't cost the store a buttload of money to stock. On the other hand, if there is $5000 in starters and alternators that haven't moved in a year or two, that's a problem. :)

As far as the helicoil story... wow! I wouldn't have even made it as far as you did Mike, I would have turned my butt around and walked out!

[KMT]

Local Autozone just last week - looking for an upper control arm. The conversation went like this...

"Make?" Ford
"Year?" 1990
"Model?" Thunderbird
"Single cam?" ...say what?

Clerk spins the computer around and points at the screen where it says 'SC' - I just smile and say, "yeahhhhh, single cam".

[winky]

. Being a parts guy requires you to think on your feet, most kids these days cant.
no a lot of us can but we use our skills the get higher paying jobs im 20. what 20 year old parts guy is making 45k a year?? If you know who's paying that ill quit my job right now

[garsc]

I didnt mean to offend anyone. what I meant was the younger ones in the parts business are not interested enough to learn how to overcome their lack of knoledge by using simple common sense.Let alone try to learn something about the business.Nor do I blame anyone for not being in the automotive business cause it sure doesnt pay well.