I still have a really good set from years ago when I worked at an industrial supplier. I had them all sharpened when I was working part time a few years ago for a friend with a machine shop. Now that my kids dont have access to them I should be good for a long time.
Parts store follies.
- Thread starter Chris142
- Start date
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Living in the city sure is nice sometimes. If a parts store didn’t have something I could hit 20 stores, 20 minutes from my house.
And Amazon doesn’t delay packages here.
And Amazon doesn’t delay packages here.
I never call for anything. Too painful, too slow and FAR too likely an ignorant or lazy employee says they don't have it when they do.
I do all my research online, verify stock and either order online or am ready with a part number when I walk in.
It's the new version of "let your fingers do the walking"
I do all my research online, verify stock and either order online or am ready with a part number when I walk in.
It's the new version of "let your fingers do the walking"
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
True Value in Phelan might have one
https://www.truevalue.com/product/stub-drill-bit-left-hand-cobalt-steel-13-32-in/
Lowe’s has it too
https://www.truevalue.com/product/stub-drill-bit-left-hand-cobalt-steel-13-32-in/
Lowe’s has it too
The Year / Make /Model thing is always annoying when you know the part number and want to ask for it by that. Like when you need a belt that's slightly longer or shorter than what is specified.
Man I have not been through phelan in years! I didn't know they even had a store there lol
Reminds me of when I called Orileys, doing the valve cover gasket on my wife's 18' Mazda 3 and I needed a new rubber gasket for the oil control solenoid (RA had sent the wrong size). Despite having given the year, make, and model; the woman on the other end who sounded like she spends most of her time smoking off brand cigarettes on the porch; managed to come back on the line with a part for a carburetor. I resisted the urge to hang up immediately our of politeness but her tone told me I was not so successful at hiding my disappointment in my own voice.
This is however a sign of the times, as a teenager the autozone down the road would sell me a part and give me pointers for installing it, once had an autozone guy at a different store who was bored on his break crawl under my car and install a new starter because he felt like it; tossed him some cash for lunch. That first store I mention I watched the staff change over to search engine operators; it conveniently coincided with my getting a more reliable car and the abundance of knowledge available on the internet for when my reliable newer cars ceased to be so and it was outside my existing expertise.
This is however a sign of the times, as a teenager the autozone down the road would sell me a part and give me pointers for installing it, once had an autozone guy at a different store who was bored on his break crawl under my car and install a new starter because he felt like it; tossed him some cash for lunch. That first store I mention I watched the staff change over to search engine operators; it conveniently coincided with my getting a more reliable car and the abundance of knowledge available on the internet for when my reliable newer cars ceased to be so and it was outside my existing expertise.
I drained the oil in my motorcycle and discovered that I didn't have an oil filter. Off to the cycle shop.
"Can I help you"?
"Yes, I need an HF-138 there on the second shelf, 2nd from the left".
"What model and year motorcycle"?
I tell him, and he looks it up and then says that's not the correct filter. I tell him that HF says that it is. I do the phone lookup and show him. "Sorry, I can't sell you that filter unless we have a match". Bottom line is that he wouldn't sell me that filter.
A complaint to management fell on deaf ears. So, off to the parts store and get a Wix filter off the shelf. They didn't even ask me what I wanted it for.
"Can I help you"?
"Yes, I need an HF-138 there on the second shelf, 2nd from the left".
"What model and year motorcycle"?
I tell him, and he looks it up and then says that's not the correct filter. I tell him that HF says that it is. I do the phone lookup and show him. "Sorry, I can't sell you that filter unless we have a match". Bottom line is that he wouldn't sell me that filter.
A complaint to management fell on deaf ears. So, off to the parts store and get a Wix filter off the shelf. They didn't even ask me what I wanted it for.
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Even when I go in-store after all my research I have their product page called up clearly showing the store address as my selected store and the website representing store stock DOES exist.
50% of the time they'll punch a few keys, get a puzzled look and say "I don't think we have that" at which point I open my phone and show them. I understand product goes missing or walks away, but if inventory says it's there, ya at least gotta look!!
Your response: It's not for a vehicle
You don't need to be a mechanic to work at an auto parts store, nor should those on the customer side expect them to be. I've told this story before about when I worked at an electrical supply house. The proper electricians would come in and many times could rattle off the Hubbell or Raco or whatever part numbers or other times they'd just say they needed (24) single-gang, metal switch boxes. What we weren't "allowed" to do was when DIY-Joe came in and said "I'm trying to do this, what stuff do I need?". Our answer was "I can look up parts with descriptions or part numbers, but I'm not an electrician and don't know". I'm certain everyone understands why we had to answer this way too.
I drained the oil in my motorcycle and discovered that I didn't have an oil filter. Off to the cycle shop.
"Can I help you"?
"Yes, I need an HF-138 there on the second shelf, 2nd from the left".
"What model and year motorcycle"?
I tell him, and he looks it up and then says that's not the correct filter. I tell him that HF says that it is. I do the phone lookup and show him. "Sorry, I can't sell you that filter unless we have a match". Bottom line is that he wouldn't sell me that filter.
A complaint to management fell on deaf ears. So, off to the parts store and get a Wix filter off the shelf. They didn't even ask me what I wanted it for.
I guess some parts guys just lack common sense.What bike do you have? That filter fits many Suzuki's. And a handful of other bikes.
Totally, got asked a lot to diagnose a car based on the problem encountered. The one issue back then was most vehicles people were working on themselves were still obd1, OBD2 was relatively new and code readers were quite expensive.
At least what I do, when someone comes in with a part number I put "customer supplied part number" in the comments on the invoice.
We have some shops who for whatever reason won't give us vehicle info and then get mad when the parts don't fit and we won't take them back. The usual excuse it that was what the insurance adjuster said was correct.
I wouldn't expect them to be mechanics but I do expect them to know and understand the basics of what they are selling.
I guess working dealer parts is different in that we are explicitly told by ownership to do no diag whatsoever. If we are wrong and the part doesn't fix it, there is that whole awkward situation of "what now?" Especially in California where the BAR loves to audit everything. I just tell people to go to service and pay the fee. We are also pretty strict about returns, no returns on electrical, installed parts, or special orders.
No idea how accurate this needs to be but 13/32 is 10.3mm. So 10mm would be 0.013 smaller roughly?
I have never heard of a 10 mm drill bit. I'm out of the loop I guess
Interesting? Maybe only industrial people work in metric here? Are metric drill bits not a thing?