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Fun with the auto parts stores

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sparkydave

sparkydave

Jedi Knight
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My former brother in law had a good one. If you want to have some fun with your neighborhood auto parts store counter person, ask them for a water pump for a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle and see what kind of response you get. :laugh:

He tried it once and the guy looked a little perplexed when he said "Sorry, my computer says that's no longer available". :banana:

Maybe I should see if I can find a new power steering pump for my Midget!
 
Or, you can ask for an Oil filter for a 1953 Studebaker Champion.

They didn't have one.

I used to take my Champion to a local oil change place where I was friendly with the manager. Every time they hired a new guy we'd have him do the oil change on the car. Not once, in the five years we did this did any of them:

1) figure out how to start the car (floor button activated starter)
2) find the oil filter (it doesn't have one)
3) find an air filter to fit (it's an oil bath air filter)

We used to sit in the manager's office and just laugh like crazy. It became an in-joke at the shop.
 
I took my Mini to the car wash we take all our cars to. It too has a floor starter button and is RHD. You should have seen the other workers bust out laughing when this one guy got in it to move it - on the LEFT side! Then of course he couldn't start it. I felt bad for the young guy but it really made all the other guys' day!
 
While visiting my FLAPS awhile back, I asked the youth behind the counter if they had an upper radiator hose for a '62 Triumph TR4.

I almost laughed out loud when i got my first "Triumph? Who makes that?"
 
I feel for the guys, though. I worked in a Chevy parts department for years and - especially by late afternoon - could easily have tried to look up engine parts for, say, a '55 with a 348 or almost any impossible mix without even thinking about it. Or even a Corvair water pump...
 
Yep, a few months ago I needed an oil pressure activated safety switch for an electric fuel pump. The kid insisted on knowing "what was it for." When I finally explained 1950 Packard, his immediate response was "Is that made by Volkswagen?"
 
The one I like best is the driver who went to the parts store asking for some 710 for their car. The person behind the counter said they didn't know what that was. The driver went out to the car, opened the hood, came back in with a black plastic cap. They handed it to the person and said, "You know, this....." Sure enough, on the cap in white letters - 7-I-0.























O-I-L for those of us just waking up and needing a cup of coffee!! :laugh:
 
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