So a customer calls me on the phone....
After many, many trips to the local car parts store I became friends with the counter people. When I needed fittings I would go past the counter and go thru the back door and help myself to the large display of fitting in 60/70 pull out plastic boxes. The counter people knew very little about fittings and it wouldn't do any good to ask them for help. I would just get what I needed, take it to the counter with the numbers off the plastic box and pay for my fittings. Building many hot rods I did the same thing with radiator hoses. I would simply walk into the back area where all the parts are stored and where hundreds of hoses hang on the wall. I would pick the hose that had the correct shape and diameter to fit the engine outlet and the radiator as well as the correct shape to fit in the engine bay. It would have been impossible to describe to them the picture in my head.
After my "parts career" I was working in Spokane for a very small HVAC/R service company. Boss also had a tree farm (he's dead the tree farm still lives) and he bought one of these truck mounted tree transplanters--sight unseen--from the Chitcago area--and had it shipped to Spokane, 20G, sight unseen!!!
Anyhow it was on a long wheelbase Ford ?600? and the boss decided he wanted ME to shorten the frame of the truck. At some point I ended up in a local parts store in Spokane, I told the guy "I need to plug some brake fittings, I need some 3/16 inverted flare unions and some 3/16 inverted flare plugs"
I don't remember "what next" but at some point he came back out with SAE flare
I told him THOSE are NOT inverted flare. "Well" he says "you have to figure out what you want."
"Go get your manager"
I told the manager "I want you to send a brass fittings catalogue home with this guy, so next time somebody asks for inverted flare fittings, he knows WTF the customer is asking for!!"
........Similar to one of these things.............
After many, many trips to the local car parts store I became friends with the counter people. When I needed fittings I would go past the counter and go thru the back door and help myself to the large display of fitting in 60/70 pull out plastic boxes. The counter people knew very little about fittings and it wouldn't do any good to ask them for help. I would just get what I needed, take it to the counter with the numbers off the plastic box and pay for my fittings. Building many hot rods I did the same thing with radiator hoses. I would simply walk into the back area where all the parts are stored and where hundreds of hoses hang on the wall. I would pick the hose that had the correct shape and diameter to fit the engine outlet and the radiator as well as the correct shape to fit in the engine bay. It would have been impossible to describe to them the picture in my head.
