Herb McCandless suggested I should move in the early 90's.Time to move
He said, have you ever considered moving, after I told him about the machine work or lack of, in the area. lol
Herb McCandless suggested I should move in the early 90's.Time to move
They will still hassle you for a make and model and want to go through a cookie cutter routine. You might just overwhelm them with a part number, then you will have to wait for a managerThis day and age you better look up your own part numbers and walk into the door with it.
Stopped by the local AZ today to pick up a tube of NeverSeize,,,they were out, the girl behind the counter tried to sell me caliper grease, she said that caliper grease works just like NeverSeize,,, it has to be tough of folks that actually depend upon the folks behind the counter.They must not pay much. At my local chain store the turn over is crazy. I always get my part no. from their website then call to see if its in stock or needs to be ordered. They ask me if a 340 is a v6 or v8 or whats the liters. Had to give up on getting valve seals. Ordered them online.
Ahh missed that. When you said 5.2 I just thought 318 LA not 5.2 magnum.
Try - VS50419R
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/fel-vs50419r/overview/make/dodge
So you have personally used these and know what they are?
Usual is 10.00 -12.00 bones an hour, unless you know a specialized skill set(s.. Paint mixing , considerable experience of actual automotive knowledge, or handling commercial accounts) ...They must not pay much. At my local chain store the turn over is crazy. I always get my part no. from their website then call to see if its in stock or needs to be ordered. They ask me if a 340 is a v6 or v8 or whats the liters. Had to give up on getting valve seals. Ordered them online.
I have had better luck with O'reillys than NAPA as well.Usual is 10.00 -12.00 bones an hour, unless you know a specialized skill set(s.. Paint mixing , considerable experience of actual automotive knowledge, or handling commercial accounts) ...
No one wants to learn a trade, anymore.... O Reilly's seems to hire the most experienced people, locally. Still doesn't pay ,what they are worth.
I did a bearing -oil pump check on my 440/505 a couple of weeks ago, had to go to a speed shop and order milodon oil pump gasket and o-ring. Non of the dealers had any info on a 440 at all, and didn`t have a clue what I was talking about. How many mopar engines are out there that take the same gaskets? literally millions !As a partsman myself. I feel your pain.
I generally don't go into the counter to ask for anything. I look it up. Get a number. Call them, or better yet if their website lets you, I look it up to see where it is. Then I go and get it. That way I only have myself to blame if I look it up wrong. And I can avoid the whole "You got a vin number" garbage. Especially since my car is made from probably a couple different donor vehicles.
Prime example. Replaced my master cylinder couple weeks ago. I searched around. Found the one for my car. Looked it up on NAPA and Autovalue. NAPA could have it in a couple days. I reserved it online on friday. Got a call the next week when it was in. Went in and got it. When I wanted a banjo bolt for the front discs. I looked it up. Said they have stock. I walked in and told them the number. Got it.
Not that the guys here aren't pretty knowledgeable. I come from a pretty serious car city. We have an entire weekend dedicated just to cars. They shut down probably a KM of main road just to have a "controlled" car cruise. There was 950 cars registered for the cruise last year. And they turned away at least 250 cars after that. And most of the parts guys at the automotive stores around here are those same car guys. So they can be excellent. But of course there is always the "it's just a job" type that don't really care about what they do.
Prime example of not knowing what to do? I was changing my rear gears. Going to a 4.10 setup. I was calling around. Pricing it out. Called one of the Dodge dealerships in town.
"I need 4.10 gearset for an 8-3/4 rear end. 489 case."
"Do you have the VIN number of the car."
"Yes, but this rear end is out of a different vehicle. I don't have that VIN."
"Oh we can only look it up by VIN."
"So you can't find rear gears for a 8-3/4 489 case without the vin?"
"No."
"Alrighty then." click
Needless to say. I didn't buy my gears from them.
napa around here charges shipping for every item they sell. even the speed shops dont do that, they have a truck coming from Kansas city every day anyway !I have had better luck with O'reillys than NAPA as well.
I should clarify that. My NAPA still has catalogs and 2 seasoned countermen that know how to use them. Saying that, NAPA will be the last place I will go for electrical/ electronics.I have had better luck with O'reillys than NAPA as well.
Just thought of something else I wanted to say. I was an assistant manager at a big Western Auto store for 5 years after I got out of the Air Force in 1993. We paid our full time parts guys about $8 to $10 per hour. This was the same as EVERY other parts store in town. I talked to several people all the way up to senior management at the headquarters in Kansas City about their pay. I said that if we paid them $2 more per hour than they could get anywhere else, we'd have the best parts guys in town with lower (if not zero) turn over, and it would only cost $80 per week per full time employee. Everybody thought it was a stupid idea. They would rather put up with 25% - 50% annual turnover and pay less.
That was one of my problems with NAPA. Charged shipping on a part to the store. I can order online save 2 trips, 2+ hours time, and $10 gas, pay shipping and come out ahead.napa around here charges shipping for every item they sell. even the speed shops dont do that, they have a truck coming from Kansas city every day anyway !