Your favorite non chain auto parts store.

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When I get auto parts other than the run of the mill replacement parts, I like to go where the store has certain characteristics.

1. The guys behind the counter are over fifty and the’ve worked there for years.
2. There is an upside down piston on the counter where they used to butt their smokes. ( can’t smoke in the store any more)
3. They have some store oil but they also carry Amsoil.
4. They have a whole wall of Lisle specialty tools.

This store is Bowness Auto parts in Calgary Alberta. Tell us about your favorite store in this category. Give them some free advertising because typically they don’t advertise.

SF
 
I can't remember the last indy parts place I was in. There was a place in Attleboro , but the last time I went by it was closed
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I still go to a couple real parts stores, the guy behind the counter is still puffing on a stogie and guys smoke in there. There are bar stools and rubber mats on the counter.
These are out of the way places that have been there for decades and don't advertise, hardly any DIY types in there.
 
Years ago I lived in the coastal town on Eureka California. Not to far from my house was a auto supply call Finnagan Nason Auto Supply. I bought a lot of parts for car repairs there. I went to school with the owners son. Years later after graduation his son started running the place. I moved away to Idaho. One day I went back and passed by the shop. It is now some kind of hippy art or flower shop. I guess the chain guys took over the parts in town. While I was shopping at this place the only chain so to speak was NAPA. Now there are no private shops in town at all.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
I still go to a couple real parts stores, the guy behind the counter is still puffing on a stogie and guys smoke in there. There are bar stools and rubber mats on the counter.
These are out of the way places that have been there for decades and don't advertise, hardly any DIY types in there.


Unfortunately, places like this are just about extinct.
 
Weldele Auto Parts on Greenwell Rd. on the west side of Cincinnati (Delhi)-he's the last of a dying breed. Even the local chains are being bought out (like KOI by Federated).
 
If I feel I'll need some help with a task, I'll buy my parts at Mid-Five Auto in Livonia, Michigan. They also have a machine shop that did excellent work on my Olds Rocket engine block during a rebuild.
 
The closest place to me like that is our local Napa. It has the exact feeling you are talking about and you could smoke in there up until the past 7-8 years. There are younger guys coming in but they seem a step up from the typical auto zone counter guys. Our local Napa has its drawbacks too, but I wont get into that.

Our old car-quest had the feel of a cleaner small auto parts store, but they shut.

Once on a trip I stopped in Kentland,IN to get washer fluid which I think was a napa. It had an old school feel.

I love those places, I can remember them from my youth and teenage years when they were still around in number.

Man the world has changed in 20-30 years. I know we say that every 20-30 years but man... Some has changed for the better, some not.
 
Warning! This link may offend some people. But it is a link to a prank done to Eddies autoparts near knoxville TN. Now lets be honest, some of the old school parts places might offend people as well. Lol.

This call was done in the early 1980s by John Bean. John was really sick and entertained himself by making prank calls to locals.

John Bean and Eddie Harvey were both legends.
Eddies Auto Prank call #1

Eddies Auto Call #2

And here is a video of a prank where some guys go into Eddies auto to get him hot under the collar. You can tell Eddie was a good guy.

Eddies Auto video
 
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Ok, I found It!!

This video has a good interview with Eddie. It has some good clips of the old school parts store. Eddie has taken it all in stride.

The video itself Is about John bean which is interesting in itself.

It is a glimpse back into days we will never see it again.

The legacy of John Bean
 
I have two such stores within distance of the parent's place where I do my wrenching, SP Automotive in San Pablo and Monument Car Parts in Martinez. The latter also has a location behind a Costco and homebrew shop I frequent.

There's also a Carquest in Berkeley I sometimes go to.

I used to loiter at a parts house, but eventually the countermen had me help stock the shelves and walk over small stuff to the service station and repair shops across the street. They couldn't legally employ me but they "paid" me via a very healthy discount on parts. This was in 1997-2002 when I was a wee little one.
 
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Originally Posted By: Trav
I still go to a couple real parts stores, the guy behind the counter is still puffing on a stogie and guys smoke in there. There are bar stools and rubber mats on the counter.
These are out of the way places that have been there for decades and don't advertise, hardly any DIY types in there.


Wow, there’s still some left? The last one of those with the bar stools I saw was probably in 1973 in Northern NY. They really harken back to dark ages.
 
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