What the heck is wrong with parts stores?

[85_Ranger4x4]

I think anyone who has had to buy auto parts knows that the old part in the hand will always be better than just hoping some guy/girl who's never seen your vehicle will find the right part on the first try. Getting auto parts is like getting plumbing.... Unless you know damn sure what you need or bring in the old part then you will be back at least one more time. Anyone who is hoping that same person can give them tech advice is just asking for problems.... Do you ask the hostess at the restaurant how they season the food? Nope, you would ask the chef that. Same goes for cars/trucks. Now the real question.... What seasoning is best? engine crud parmesan? brake fluid sauce? rust chips with salsa?

Worse than plumbing... unless you get into the dark world of vehicular plumbing.

I forget how many trips it took to town to get a '86 F-150 brake master cylinder plumbed into my '85. So many different kinds of threads and nobody knows anything about them.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I liked the old catalogs for the pics.....










I once spent a couple hours for a few days looking thru catalogues for the exact right shape motor mount to stuff a 429 into a 68 Torino. I found it and it worked the first try. Way before computers. Most parts guys would know the stock number for common parts off the top of their head. Ran into one manager like that at the local autovalue, unfortunately he died a couple years ago.

 

[Dirtman]

I kept the old Walker exhaust catalogs to do stuff like that. Just browse through and find pipes and adapters to make the exhaust I want. I made a true dual system with both exits on the passengers side for my old ram charger with all random oem replacement parts doing that. Took me hours looking through the catalogs and writing down part numbers but in the end it looked stock, sounded awesome, and bolted together.