A REAL parts house?
A couple-three years ago, the local Mom and Pop Auto Parts Store that I have been going to for years got bought out by NAPA when they retired.
They had been in business for over 30 years and I heard about them years before I ever actually went in there.
They were local legends in the repair industry around here.
Their daughter still manages the place.
Sometime last year I had to go up there for something stupid and when I pulled up in front of the place I saw a huge 10 yard dumpster sitting on the side of the building with stuff sticking out of it.
I was curious and had a bad feeling when I first saw it.
Sure enough, when I got up to it, it was completely full of all of their old books and even the metal stands they used to sit on in long rows.
I was heartbroken. The worst part was that when I went in to ask If I could dig through it and save some of it from destruction they said no, Corprorate wouldn’t let anyone touch any of it and it had to go.
Needless to say, most of the old guys that had been there for years got pushed out and replaced by young girls. There are still a couple of guys there that know what they are doing but for the most part, NAPA has gone Full SCMUCK’S.
The place is still far and away the best place around but it will be forever diminished because of the intentional destruction of all of that knowledge and the abilities to use it.
And they like to call that Progress?
There is another NAPA a few miles away that I used to go to but after 3 bad experiences with a Bull Dyke they had hired who finally refused to help me for no other reason that I called her out for NOT KNOWING HOW TO USE THE BOOKS THEY STILL HAD,
I told the manager that I would never darken their doorstep again.
So far I have made good on that.
I can’t tell you how much I miss the old Graybeards who knew what the fuck they were doing and knew the parts interchanges by heart.
Every time I get asked if my vehicle has air conditiong when all I want is fucking wiper blades, it kills my soul just a little bit more.
Word is that O’Reilly is looking to purchase NAPA. Can’t wait to see how much worse things get.
Miss the old parts houses. The old heads could take a stack of books, and find a good replacement part for just about anything you walked in with. Now, you get someone tapping on a computer, and as often as not, wind up with the wrong part. NAPA has been declining for years, but can usually still get parts for older vehicles, tractors etc. Time will tell, but it isn’t likely to be better.
I love O’rielly’s round here. They seem to be the only ones with competent people even though they rely on computers. Found out this last year the son who runs them now is married to a girl I knew but havent seen in 40+ years.
Napa sucks, their cheap chinesium seems to be just that.
Jused an Oreilly’s many years ago, never was impressed. Maybe it was a one-off. Used a local mom and pop store for years till they closed up. Choices now are NAPA, Autozone, or Advance Auto Parts. Yeah, I’m in hell. Actually do pretty good with Amazon. Not convenient from a time perspective, but neither is them telling you they have it in stock, then when you get there, they told you wrong, or “it’s here, but we can’t find it.” We can order it, but we missed the cutoff for delivery tomorrow, so it won’t be in till the day after.
The mom and pop store was always well stocked, and they worked with you. More than once, they arranged for me to pick up directly from their warehouse on time critical jobs. A few times, they even pointed me to a competitor that had it on the shelf. They knew that service kept you coming back, and valued your business and your time.
Believe those days are largely gone, Sad to realize that most folks today assume poor service is the standard.
Or if you need a wiper blade; and they ask for the engine size?!?!%^^&
But, but, but computers can do everything,,,,,,,,,,,,,,when they work
Had some of those at my last job, not as old but still usable. It’s how I became purchasing manager in a manufacturing business. Hundreds of different bearings in our machines. One was about a foot across. Last time I bought it, 15-20 years ago was $6K+ each. Wonder what that sucker cost these days.
Been over 10 years since I had to look at them. “I was tired of the bullshit” – Dad, about 1986. I never forgot that phrase
Fahrenheit 451…..so sad.
What the hell are we going to do when the grid collapses ?
Die
Well that simplifies everything….no worries !
As I began reading, I had a flashback to the last few months of my 2-year Army stint (late 1972). I worked in HQ Company as a parts clerk for our armored personnel carriers, Jeeps, 5/4-ton pickups, and 2-1/2 ton and 5-ton trucks. The mechanics availed themselves to our vehicle-specific manuals and would point to the pictures in the exploded view diagrams for every part of the vehicle.
I’d make a note of all the part numbers and names needed, then check the book of numbers. In that book, each part number was listed with a second number for that part when it was improved or replaced. THAT number was similarly checked for any updates. Once this procedure was followed, I would manually write the part name and numbers on IBM cards which were turned in for final review then sent to the next level for transmittal to our military parts supplier agencies in Germany.
The parts typically arrived within a week, sometimes with the original part number from our “dated” manuals. I can really connect with scenes in the TV series MASH, only vehicle parts only, and only guys.
Use the internet and find their part number for the exact part you need, start with google, and when you have that part number open bing and ask it what vehicles that part number is for, as a double-check. If they both agree, then you call the parts store and ask them if that have that part number in stock, and how many they have in stock. You have to ask them if they have it in their hands, or they’re going to be trusting their computer, which will be correct and accurate….unless some employee has made a mistake, which is what they seem to be for these days.
Been observing since 1977, used to be able to go into the wholesale house and the catalogs 5 inches or more thick sat on the counter. Ask for a part and if the number didn’t match they could flip 300 pages and cross reference to match your part and may even have it in stock under a half inch of dust. But we’re told now that the parts system is more efficient. I digress.
“SCMUCK’S”? I remember Schuck’s auto parts – they got bought by Checker, who got bought by O’Reilly.
O’Reilly buying NAPA would be weird, IMHO. I’ve worked for both, but not for much time.
Wiper blades!!! “Is that with the automatic transmission?”
Seriously!!!
I am going back to my cave.
I bought my table saw back in 1971, I think. anyway, it a old Sears Craftsman one made in 1952. yup. cast iron, weighs a ton. also cuts within .001 with ease.
still have it. left it with Dad when I joined the army. he used the hell out of it
needed some bearing by the early 1990’s. Sears didn’t have them anymore.
so, went to a supply house for companies. told the old counter guy what was going on , showed him the bearing. in less than 5 minutes, he found a pair that would work. I bought a extra set of them. what another 20 bucks as best then.
he asked me why and I told him the saw just worked very well and the new stuff was crap when compared to my old one. I told him it also had a 2 drive belt pullies on it. he said, bring in the belts and I get you a spare set.
again, I bought 2 sets. I have one set of each left now. and the saw still cuts better than any new saw I seen under a grand or more.
my neighbor’s GRANDSON wants to buy the saw after I am done with it.
ripped some boards for his pickup truck a few years back and I think he fell in love with it ? try to find parts for that old saw now, I going to bet it will take you a while if you ever do. used to have a old interchange book for engine parts back in the 1960’s. sold it at the car show for 20 bucks back about 20 years ago.
and a old MGB/ English carb book that one guy paid me 120 bucks for. it been out of print since 1978 or something he told me.
and people wonder why I keep old books ?
as Mom told me many years ago, you don’t have to remember everything, just where your book on it is.
In the ASME code you can fix a pressure vessel to the original code of construction, if you have a copy.
Everyone went to digital services rather than hard copies of the codes. Now the 2 biggest services merged a few years ago and they charge extra to read old editions. Plus any downloads expire after 90 days, so you cant keep old copies.
I saw this coming and started gathering old hard copies 30 years ago. I have some 1920’s copies, 1950’s copies, 1973, 1980’s and almost all since 2000.
Also gave a leather bound copy of the predesser code from 1888.
There was an article about Imax cameras the other day. The best resolution comes from a specific model made in the 80’s. They switched to digital ones as most people cant tell the difference.
The last tech retired who could fix those 12 old pre digital units. Imax has no one in house who build new ones as it appears when they moved their Library to digital format the drawings and construction docs didn’t get done and the hard copies destroyed years ago.
I still miss H&T Auto Parts. Most of the time, Johnny could get what you were looking for without even going to the books. They have been gone almost 30 years and I still remember their phone number.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
Just think of the manpower involved in building the database, putting the pages together, printing and revising a project like that.
I’ll bet Jerry K has some notion of that.
As auto designers make products now designed only for dealers to service, auto parts places will see decline in revenue for years to come as older vehicles finally go to the great rusty graveyard.
I am reminded of Ray, the old guy at the machine shop in Morristown NJ who helped me immensely to rebuild the engine of my first car, a 1967 MBG-GT knowingly purchased with a blown engine from a friend. Through the rebuilding process and later repairs, I leaned the vehicle was 1967 but engine was 1961 and tranny was 1968, with an aluminum engine “bonnet” likely from some other year also. Engine problem was a spun big end bearing, likely due to the crappy fiber filer cartridge I took off the engine and replaced with a more modern design. Ray guided me through the process to weld up the missing metal on the crank and have it machined back to spec, buy the new connecting rod, bushings etc. A lot of parts also sourced from JC Whitney catalog that used to come in the mail.
Found out the reason I had to replace the pilot bushing more than once was the bushing for the 67 vehicle OD was larger than the ID of the 61 flywheel on the engine, causing the new bushing to get screwed up every time I put the tranny back on the engine. Dial caliper helped solve that mystery.
Why would British engineers change the OD and ID for the pilot bushing from one year to the next? Therein lies perhaps, a partial explanation of the death of the original Morris Garage.
the Brits often used whatever they had laying around. yeah. sounds stupid to us today, but that was how they thought.
lightweight ‘bonnets’ where the standard until 1968- cost too much and they has a nasty habit of cracking in stress points (?) so after the AL ones where gone, they used steel. I had a few MGB-GTs in my life as I just loved the way they looked. even had a 1969 one that I stuffed a Buick/OLDS engine into. yup, the old 215/300 ci AL block.
ended swapping out the wires for disc wheel due to them “twisting”
when I put the beans to it. plan was to get a old XKE rear end and cut the drive shafts down to fit inside it. never got that far because of the DIVORCE. anyway, after that happened . where I lost just about everything. I bought a 1979 VW Scirocco in red I think it was the S version. another fun car to drive until the sub frame went (??)
sold it for parts and got my first ever new car. yup got a 91 Honda accord ex model. paid a lot for it too ! another fun car until it start to nickel and dime to death with little shitty problems
looking back on it all now, I kind of wished I kept one of those MGB-GTs as they where easy to work on and fix compared to anything made after 1990. and if you knew how to keep the SU carbs in tune, ran great with good MPG. hell, I still have a old as hell SU can of “carb oil” sitting on the bench downstairs.
mine had twin side draft webers, and went out of tune on one cold-to-hot, cool off cycle. Engine still ran OK even out of tune but . . . . .
I did like to drive that car. Lucas (Prince of Darkness!) electric with a positive earth. Put an 8-track in it under the drivers seat, wrapped the steel case of the 8-track in a piece of old carpet for insulation. Once I hit the brakes hard, the 8-track flew out under my feet and sparks commenced. It was exciting.
Guy at college had a TR-6 (maybe? a Triumph anyway) that he bolted a small block V-8 in to, he said he had to modify the engine mounts a bit and had to be careful it didn’t overheat, as the radiator was sized for a smaller heat load.
ever drive behind a Triumph spitfire ? damn weird.
the so called IRS didn’t seem to have room to work right and the back end always seem to bounce like?
TR-4 had positive earth, learned that the hard way (?)
my buddy just wanted to connect the battery the
“right way” and almost set the damn little car on fire.
“Sure enough, when I got up to it, it was completely full of all of their old books and even the metal stands they used to sit on in long rows.”
I used these when I worked at an auto supply company in the 1970s.
Pettigrew-Smith on Kirby Drive in Houston.
Went to grab an oil filter for my truck the other day. The well used reference book that hung off the rack was gone. The diversity hire at the counter said corporate decided to pull all those so customers had to interact with the counter weenies to get even simple bits now. How long before they start adding the tip option to their point of sale machine?
Yes, and after you go through all the BS about the vehicle, I ask for no Chinese parts.
They look at me like I have two heads. They don’t understand why I don’t want a Chinese brake master cylinder or no name DOT 3 brake fluid.
My local NAPA dealer had 20 plus stores that began with the owner’s father’s original store in Grass Valley CA 50 years ago. When the owner retired, NAPA corporate bought him out. My first experience with them was buying a set of wiper blades for my bride’s van. When I checked out, I thought “Boy, that seems kind of high”.
When I got home, I checked on eBay. The same wipers, same brand, were a third the cost, with free shipping. I shant return to that store, ever.
Fool me once, shame on you.
I agree with many of the folks here. I long for the good old days of the mom and pop parts stores, and the knowledgeable counter men that were your friends. It was always fun to do business with them.
Our local NAPA’s (3 owners of 4 stores) are all pretty good. They play well together when it’s not At this location.
O’Reilly moved in about 5 years ago. Utterly worthless.
What it did cause was for the Napa to be open an hour longer weekdays (6 pm), and 3 hours on Saturday (6 pm).
They “open” at 8. The owner or his wife are there at 7. Tap on the window, they help you immediately, not making you wait for 8.
There is some turn over in the help, but for the most part, they don’t do to bad. The bad ones get moved out very quickly when identified.
Prices usually are not to out of line, with a few exceptions. But that’s when you have free choice to do something else.