Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

John D · 2K+ Club

I Played Stump The Parts Person Yesterday

Back in Black · Active Member

I honestly had no idea it would be that difficult to find one of these things or I never would have left the house. They used to be a dime a dozen and readily available just about everywhere. I know full well how much of a problem it can be when you can't tell the parts person what the application is but this is just a common metallic 2-hole 2.5" ID exhaust gasket. I even took the old one with me so I could show the person what I was looking for. No problem right? Wrong! :(

I went to no less than four popular parts places and one popular exhaust shop. Two of the parts people were good and actually knew where to look in the store. One broke out a paper catalog and one actually let me poke around the shelves myself. The last person did a computer search for....2.5. But I think the most disappointing encounter was with the exhaust shop guy who told me they don't stock gaskets and would just re-use the old one with high-temp silicone to seal it. Re-use the old gasket that almost crumbled when I pulled the pipes off!! This is exaclty why my cars will NEVER see the inside of any kind of auto repair shop. Good grief.

When I got home, I found exactly what I wanted on eBay in less than 30 seconds. I want to support the local economy, I really do. They sure don't make it easy.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

I wonder if the speed shop in Pine Island would carry stuff like that? I haven't been in there yet, but have been looking for a reason to check them out. :)

http://www.twincitiesrodandcustom.com/index.cfm

Lost in the 60s · President

Derek69SS wrote:
I wonder if the speed shop in Pine Island would carry stuff like that? I haven't been in there yet, but have been looking for a reason to check them out. :)

http://www.twincitiesrodandcustom.com/index.cfm

I've talked to and ordered a few things from them. He doesn't stock much in the way of "common" parts, mostly street rod stuff and not much of that yet. He let Ed sell off his existing stock to start fresh and it will take some time to get rolling well. He's hoping to get another outlet nearer the cities to make it closer for the big market up here.

I may have a couple of those heat riser gaskets in a box in the shop. Seems much of what I've saved from the 70's is now antiques...

bowtie · Secretary

Yeah, I get the same thing when I call places for odd stuff too. How it's organized in the computer all derives from year/make/model, then part. Usually you can still page through a book, those would have the i.d. and a reasonable picture to show 2 holes or whatever. Here at my place, I can at least go to the bin and quickly look though them to see if I have something like that (though it's probably not likely for pre-mid '90s.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Unless the guy behind the counter is worth his salt. You will stump them every time when your looking for a specific part like that. If all they know how to do is surf through menus on a computer as...Year-Make-Model-engine. You will have little chance they even know what your talking about or even where to find it in the first place. Ive worked in several exhaust shops in the past and reading the part about stumping the shop guy as well doesnt supprise me one bit either.

SShink · 3K+ Club

I feel pretty lucky that the O'Reilly's a block from my house has 2 old skool counter guys and if I haven't already figured it out, they know what I'm looking for and how to find it on their 'system'.

John D · 2K+ Club

Oh yeah, forgot to mention.... My local NAPA store HAS those funny rectangular multi-page, ink on paper things called parts books!

Back in Black · Active Member

John D wrote:
Surf around here first, and you can usually find a part number that anyone can cross NAPA , a 3 minute investment entering "exhaust gasket 2" yielded this

NAPA was the place that let me poke around the boxes myself. They had that gasket there but it's paper. It would last about two days. I needed the metal one. They had several types of the metal gaskets just not the one I was looking for.

-- Edited by Back in Black on Saturday 15th of December 2012 06:13:17 AM

Chris R · 2K+ Club

John D wrote:
Oh yeah, forgot to mention.... My local NAPA store HAS those funny rectangular multi-page, ink on paper things called parts books!

It was even better yet when they had the machine shop.

Bowtieman427 · Active Member

I would think Scharfs or Baiers would be able to find a part like that in Rochester. There is a hot rod shop in Racine that has lots of older parts and I bet he has it in stock but that is a long drive. The hot rod shop in Pine Island may or may not have it in stock, but they could get it for you. In Pine Island I am very lucky as the Parts City and the hot rod shop. The part city is run/owned by a family and have been there forever. The mechanics are Father & son and they know parts too if they do not have it in there warehouse they can probably get it in the next day. They had original AC plugs on their shelf for my 68 Vette and 59 Impala which I bought : )

dashboard · 2K+ Club

I went to my local NAPA Thursday and discovered my favorite parts woman has lost 25 pounds, I forgot what I went there to get.

Is it possible this parts service went south about the same time they stopped giving out the shop calendars?

RICKS70SS · Mega Poster

Yeah sure do miss them calendars they used to have

Chris R · 2K+ Club

dashboard wrote:
I went to my local NAPA Thursday and discovered my favorite parts woman has lost 25 pounds, I forgot what I went there to get.

Is it possible this parts service went south about the same time they stopped giving out the shop calendars?

IMO, it all started once parts stores started viewing counter people as an entry level paying job. Nearly 80% of these people make less then 10 dollars an hour. It used to be that a career in auto parts was a very good one. They offered a degree program at several technical schools that offered automotive repair and it was a good and respectable career to be in. Now its considered an entry level job viewed very similiarily as say, pizza delivery. When I worked as a lead tech in an old shop in Burnsville, we ordered a lot of parts and had them delivered when we needed them. Thier drivers and counter people were very entry level and many of them, were just not very bright. The store manager was great and I think they had one other guy that was pretty good. When we called to need a part or check on availability, we just asked for either one of these two guys specifically.