i work at a parts store

I would love when the older guys or younger guys who's dad taught them about his "Racin' days" came in and asked for a Three Quarter Race Cam. I'd ask them exactly what they meant. Then they had no idea. I'd start asking what duration, what lift, what lobe centerline, what their compression ratio was, what rocker arms were they using, flat tappet or roller, solid or hydraulic, blah blah blah... They'd generally just walk out. 90% of the time it was for their "10 second truck". Oh man, there were soooooo many trucks that ran 10's in Austin, TX. rolls eyes

iceracer wrote:

Keith wrote: Maybe it's something Ford learned from Land Rover. The emergency brake on my old Rover is a drum brake on the rear of the transfer case. Works great until you lift a wheel off the ground and the open diff means no more brake on the wheel that's still on the ground. Or until the output seal fails and fills the drum with 90wt transmission fluid. I think Land Rover started doing that back in 1948. And I'm pretty sure the Discovery still has it.

A lot of older cars had that setup.

A lot of older pickups did and quite a few medium duty trucks still have that setup.

81cpcamaro wrote:

iceracer wrote:

Keith wrote: Maybe it's something Ford learned from Land Rover. The emergency brake on my old Rover is a drum brake on the rear of the transfer case. Works great until you lift a wheel off the ground and the open diff means no more brake on the wheel that's still on the ground. Or until the output seal fails and fills the drum with 90wt transmission fluid. I think Land Rover started doing that back in 1948. And I'm pretty sure the Discovery still has it.

A lot of older cars had that setup.

A lot of older pickups did and quite a few medium duty trucks still have that setup.

I know the 97 F450 2wd box truck I drove for the newspaper had this setup under them..... There was ZERO room with the full floater rear to cram in a drum brake larger enough inside the rotor to hold 16k lbs still.

but this guys '00 F-150 most certainly has a parking brake inside both rear discs.

I remember when the Califonias Higheay Patrol was testing cars for patrol duty. This as quite a few years ago. Anyway, In a test of the "emergency" brake, the Dodge dropped it's drive shaft when the shaft mounted brake sheared the bolts off. Didn't stop very well.

Stong brake though.

Ranger50 wrote:

81cpcamaro wrote:

iceracer wrote:

Keith wrote: Maybe it's something Ford learned from Land Rover. The emergency brake on my old Rover is a drum brake on the rear of the transfer case. Works great until you lift a wheel off the ground and the open diff means no more brake on the wheel that's still on the ground. Or until the output seal fails and fills the drum with 90wt transmission fluid. I think Land Rover started doing that back in 1948. And I'm pretty sure the Discovery still has it.

A lot of older cars had that setup.

A lot of older pickups did and quite a few medium duty trucks still have that setup.

I know the 97 F450 2wd box truck I drove for the newspaper had this setup under them..... There was ZERO room with the full floater rear to cram in a drum brake larger enough inside the rotor to hold 16k lbs still.

Huh, I had no idea. It seemed to be a terrible idea to me. Mostly due to the fact that there's a British seal keeping the 90wt from the drum. Being British, it has a lifespan of about 2 weeks. And then you have no more parking brake again.

Keith wrote: Huh, I had no idea. It seemed to be a terrible idea to me. Mostly due to the fact that there's a British seal keeping the 90wt from the drum. Being British, it has a lifespan of about 2 weeks. And then you have no more parking brake again.

Could the issue be the American inability to use a hand brake somehow damaging the seal? I grew up with Land Rovers form the 70's and 80's, so did lots of friends families. I don't recall anyone ever having an issue with the hand brake. In the UK everyone uses the hand brake all the time. Stop the car, put on the hand brake, come to a traffic light or junction, put on the hand brake. Also once a car is 3 years old it needs an MOT test every year which tests many things including the effectiveness of brakes, I'm not aware of anyone ever having difficulties with them. I was amazed when I moved to the U.S. and discovered nobody ever uses the ‘parking’ brake to the point that most of them are rusted solid in the off position after a few years.

A lot of forkifts used that 'single drum on the output' brake as their ONLY brake for YEARS. There was a screwy version used on ancint Towmotors (now Caterpillar) that had a shoe on the inside and another outside with these two big pins. It was a scary lookin' thing, realizing that was ALL you had to stop the damn thing.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Keith wrote: Huh, I had no idea. It seemed to be a terrible idea to me. Mostly due to the fact that there's a British seal keeping the 90wt from the drum. Being British, it has a lifespan of about 2 weeks. And then you have no more parking brake again.

Could the issue be the American inability to use a hand brake somehow damaging the seal? I grew up with Land Rovers form the 70's and 80's, so did lots of friends families. I don't recall anyone ever having an issue with the hand brake. In the UK everyone uses the hand brake all the time. Stop the car, put on the hand brake, come to a traffic light or junction, put on the hand brake. Also once a car is 3 years old it needs an MOT test every year which tests many things including the effectiveness of brakes, I'm not aware of anyone ever having difficulties with them. I was amazed when I moved to the U.S. and discovered nobody ever uses the ‘parking’ brake to the point that most of them are rusted solid in the off position after a few years.

I doubt it. It's the output seal on the transfer case that's the problem. If you want to see one that's not working, I'll crawl under my Series tonight and send you a picture of the bottom of the drum leaking fluid. Land Rover even issued a recall on Defenders built from 2007-11 for this problem in the UK. Note that the Defender was not sold in the US at that time, so it's unlikely anyone in the US damaged those seals

The "self lubricating" handbrake on Land Rovers is a bit of a running joke on both sides of the pond. Spend a bit of time on a LR forum in the US or the UK and you'll see lots of references to this seal leaking. There's even a disc brake upgrade to dodge the problem. It's likely more prevalent on those that sit for a long period of time, like any leaky seal. Active trucks in the UK would have the seals replaced regularly as part of the MOT.

And since I work for NAPA again...

No crazies yesterday, but it was interesting helping an older gentleman all day with his street rod. Mustang II front end, unknown GM non-metric brakes.

Had a guy bring in some pads for an 01 Malibu, they were supposed to be for a Classic (I hate changeover models like that).

Fun times!

Javelin wrote: And since I work for NAPA again... No crazies yesterday, but it was interesting helping an older gentleman all day with his street rod. Mustang II front end, unknown GM non-metric brakes. Had a guy bring in some pads for an 01 Malibu, they were supposed to be for a Classic (I hate changeover models like that). Fun times!

You changed jobs again? did I miss something?

i thought the change-over was closer to '04.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

Javelin wrote: And since I work for NAPA again... No crazies yesterday, but it was interesting helping an older gentleman all day with his street rod. Mustang II front end, unknown GM non-metric brakes. Had a guy bring in some pads for an 01 Malibu, they were supposed to be for a Classic (I hate changeover models like that). Fun times!

You changed jobs again? did I miss something?

need to start paying attention http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/i-got-the-job/78044/page1/

I find it oddly prophetic that javelin posted in this thread on page 1 or 2 wanting to go back to being a parts counter guy again...

What really is the problem with saying: Its a small block chevy, they are all the same.

I have had more unidentified years of SBC in my racecar than I can count.

I used a serpentine belt setup from a V6 blazer and a TBI setup from a caprice (or some such car).

If I wanted a starter or an oil filter or whatever, I would not know the year. However, I made sure I knew what the part looked like. Therefore if the counter person brought me VC gaskets for centerbolt and this particular motor happened to be p-bolt, I could get the right part.

It is most likely in teh way you approach it. I would go to the parts store and say: "I have a sbc from the 70's or 80's." I need X part. I am not sure what the engine is out of or what year it is. However, I have a picture of X (or the part) that came off the car.

Maybe it was becuase I have worked at 2 different Napa stores and an Advance stores that I approach it slightly different.

Maybe they talk about me behind my back when I leave?

Rob R.

Never worked auto parts retail, but I've been parting out cars for the past 5 years. It might be worse, as a lot of the clientele is sitting right below the average Auto Zone crowd. A basic fact remains: People either know nothing about their cars, or everything they know they heard on a forum.

I've had more than a few screaming phone calls or ALL CAPS EMAILS about how I've sold someone the wrong part. I remember one guy a few years ago that bought an ECU. Ad says "works for 85-88 model years" or whatever for X car. Screaming phone call. Ask the guy what year his car it. "1993." Ugh. "I want my money back!" No way jose, you're stuck with that one.

Don't get me wrong, I've done a lot of refunds that I didn't have to. If someone calls me up, uses their inside voice, and starts with "Hey, how you doing?" Then we can get somewhere. Call up yelling, you get nothing from me.

My favorite are the guys that heard on a forum that a part from X car will fit their Y car, and want me to guarantee the part and let them return it if it doesn't work.

The biggest problem with being an independent seller of used parts is that there is no "Sorry, that's not our company policy" if someone is being an shiny happy person, idiot, or some combination of the two. If you do a lot of selling on insert generic auction website here, the company policy is that anyone can be an idiot or an shiny happy person, without consequence. They always get their money back.

We got shoplifted today!

Javelin wrote: We got shoplifted today!

and probably yesterday, & day before that, ad infinitum

Don't hang the Pricey lightbulbs where you can't see them.

Is there a thread for "I shop at a parts store" to talk about some of the lowest common denominator employees of the chain stores?

"I need a brake shoes"

Counter guy: "Does it have A/C?"

In reply to wvumtnbkr:

It's completely about the attitude for me. Tell me that you're not sure what year it is upfront, and I'll be happy to spend all day looking for the correct stuff.

Come in telling me it's a tree fiddy and they're all the same when I ask for any specifics is not going to make me want to work as hard for you as the other guy.

The tweaker today tried to rip an Optima YellowTop off of the display rack. It got caught and he nearly fell over. He managed to lift a battery cable or something similar anyway. We have a surprisingly good surveillance system, so we got clear color shots off his face and license plate. He's been busted for shoplifting at other parts stores.

Best customer today was a regular shop where they ordered some oil cooler lines for a 91 K1500. Of course they didn't fit, so he got pissy with us when he gave us the part number. Turns out he grabbed the first number up, which was for a 4.10 or higher rear axle, the truck he was working on had a 3.42, and thus, different lines (smaller radiator, smaller oil cooler, etc).

Conquest351 wrote: I would love when the older guys or younger guys who's dad taught them about his "Racin' days" came in and asked for a Three Quarter Race Cam. I'd ask them exactly what they meant. Then they had no idea. I'd start asking what duration, what lift, what lobe centerline, what their compression ratio was, what rocker arms were they using, flat tappet or roller, solid or hydraulic, blah blah blah... They'd generally just walk out. 90% of the time it was for their "10 second truck". Oh man, there were soooooo many trucks that ran 10's in Austin, TX. *rolls eyes*

You were doing it wrong, you're supposed to whip out a used smog cam you polished up and cut the last 2 cylinder's lobes off of, right past the second to last bearing journal. Make similar 1/2 and 1/4 race cams as needed.

The FLAPS we deal with at work has -one- good counter guys and a store full of monkeys.

I've given up on giving any of them the application because they simply can't find anything using the computer. I just use Rockauto's database and give them the part number.

I called for a clutch for a 1957 Fuelie Corvette and the jackhole told me "can't get it, you'll have to go to the dealer"

I called back with the part number and got "Oh, we've got two on the shelf".

There's about three different SBC clutch diameters and two spline counts, it's not bloody hard, just do your damn job.

I only deal with the decent guy now and I'm always telling the store manager and sales reps what a damn good job the guy does. I hope they pay him well.

It's not that we're giving them all weird stuff either, they can't find the simple crap like plug wires for 1980's chevrolets.

I called for a second can of copper spray-a-gasket and the guy told me they don't sell it. I bought the first can there last week, then he told me he couldn't find the part number. I found it while on the phone with him, using google in about 30 seconds.

The really good guy found me two spark plugs for a 1910 Sears Model L runabout. I didn't think Champion even made pipe-threaded spark plugs anymore.

If you're a good counter guy, kudos to you man, you probably don't get paid nearly enough.

Shawn