So i went to my local parts store last night.Needed a few things.Went to inquire about a water pump and thermostat for the car as it has been sitting and was just started now and then over the years. Sounds like my water pump (which was new when i parked the car) needs replacing again.Plus i just wanted to replace some things for piece of mind.Anyways, i really realized then and there that our cars are getting pretty old. Seems like yesterday that i could go in most parts places and pick things up off the shelf or they were out back and go home with a part,some things were special order items and that was back 7-15 years ago,but i got what i needed. Now i see on the store computer it is coming up obsolete! Can't get me a water pump or thermostat because of this. Now before you guys pipe up and tell me i can get them from here or there,i know they are out there.What i am curious about is are there any truly hard to find parts out there or any speculation of parts that are becoming increasingly harder to find and what may they be? I am talking more about maintenance,mechanical parts or parts to keep the car mobile,not body,trim,interiors,etc... Funny thing is i go to three different parts houses and try to get HEI wires for the car and they have to special order those but they have the original points style wires in stock,all three of them! O.k. gotta go find me a water pump and themostat now!

David.

I find parts like water pumps and master cylinders are easier to find and even cheaper than 10 years ago. Sure, the computers are not coughing out the parts like they should. It's the programming. Now there is a fine art to fooling the computer. Like those plug wires you wanted. I bet if you would have told them you had a 79 Trans Am with a V-8 you would have got your wires. When the parts come up obsolete ask the counter jockey to look in the book and find the part number. Then ask him to enter the number manually in the computer for availability. Chances are the warehouse has it.
Jim

Funny Jim you mentioned to ask for a 79 t/a set as that is what i asked him for! Still didn't have in stock. I did end up getting them the next day as they were in the warehouse,just funny how they have the points style front and center on the shelf and HEI are not to be found.

David.

Just repeat the magic word: NAPA

I'm also finding E-bay to be helpful. If you shop carefully you can get NOS parts for a bargain. I got a brand new hard-to-find Carter 3-line (vapor return) fuel pump for a 400 'Bird last week for $18. Nobody bid but me.

I saw a nice used wood grain center dash panel go for $56 3 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago another one with the matching ash tray went for over $100. 2 nights ago I got the 3rd one I saw for $25. Again, I was the only bidder.

I can't believe a set of heavy duty points and condenser are now over $20...used to be $5. I built a new primary ignition wire (points to coil) because it would take 3 to 5 business days to order one in. Should be on the shelf parts!

The part's stores that still use the books are by far the best.
I go to parts plus.

You can never tell which parts stores are good. We have a chain in the area called Advanced. There are three in town. At one I can get what I want. The other two are a waste of time. The only difference is the employees. The best thing to do is to find the best store(s) in your area and treat them good. I use a combination of NAPA(expensive), Auto Zone(Cheap), Advanced(Cheaper). I start with the cheaper one and move up until I have the desired parts.
Jim

That's true but I only go to places like autozone to buy part's like plug's,filter's that the other place Can't sell as cheap.

Most of autozone's part's are cheaper than other part's stores because they get there part's from whoever will build them the cheapest.

Kinda like wal-mart.

Your local Pontiac dealer's parts counter might also be a good place. There, it's always a good idea to have the GM part number handy as the computer will tell you quickly whether it's obsolete or not.

Anyway, my Pontiac parts guy today went through about 5 books trying to see if he could find somebody with an obsoleted rear axle to backing plate gasket. Previously they looked high and low through their system to find a NOS radiator core support for me. You ain't gonna get that kind of attention at a regular auto parts counter.

You can say that again
Those parts guys work on a commission of what they sell.
So most of them throw the old parts books away there's no money in them they say.
I bought a c.d. of the g.m. parts manual off ebay a couple of years ago for 67-72 birds.
Within the last year I've bought 3 of each side the frt. wheelwell chrome from g.m.
The rear has been discontinued but I did find a guy who had 3 of each side of the rear and I bought all of them too.

felpro makes a rear axle flange gasket.
#RDS13410
available thru advance auto .
this could be the right gasket. i dont know. mine were re-useable.
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i dont know that they all work on commission. seems like i wouldn't wait in line so long if they were
regardless, you have to know what to ask for and who to talk to. if you dont have both their exact nomenclature, and the right person, you're screwed. unless you have a part # they can type in their computer.

carquest example:
ME: i need a 2" GM exhaust flange. #F48 in your catalyst accessories book.
HIM: flange gasket?
ME: no, metal 2 bolt flange. holds the pipe to the manifold.
HIM: (poised at computer keyboard) what kind of car?
ME: 1968 firebird 4.1 4bbl. should be the same for, say, an 87 olds cutlass. standard GM 2 bolt flange for 2" pipe.
HIM: confused, sighs, finds a book, thumbs thru, finds a different book, thumbs thru
ME: it's in the back of that first book
HIM: there's no listing on a donut gasket.
ME: there is no gasket. it is a metal flange.
HIM: it doesn't show a flange gasket
ME: you need to look in the back of that first book with catalyst accessories. it has pictures and descriptions of all the flange types.
HIM: what kind of car?
------- now add 10 min of 'who's on first' by Abbott and Costello.

ADD: 1 knowledgeable counter person.

HER: you need to look in the back of the catalyst accessories book. it has pictures and descriptions of all that stuff.
HIM: thumbs thru wrong book. "what year firebird?"
HER: slap. shoves correct book at him, turns to flange pages.

ME: less $11, some degree of sanity, and 30 wasted minutes, going home with a pair of 2", 2 bolt, GM style exhaust flanges.... and a headache. F48 in the book, 578475 in the computer. both #'s on the box.

please feel free to laugh at my pain.

there actually was alot more to this.... 578474 flange gasket? no, that's an F43, see the F? that's for flange. and it's a metal flange, not a gasket. and that's for 2.25" pipe. you list the wrong one. i need one for 2". it's in the catalyst accessories book, in the back pages....... there are pictures and descriptions. i dont know your inventory #. the book # is F48....... sir, F is for a donut gasket....

I meant the part's guys at the dealerships work on commission.
The local parts store people are hourly.
Usually the older parts stores with the older guys working there usually know what's going on.

I love going into the auto parts stores and asking for parts that haven't been installed on cars since before the counter guys were born...watching the slack jawed faces while they try to decide whether I actually know what I want and they need to find someone with enough experience to find it for them, or if they are going to try to tell me that there is no such thing, or that they don't have it.

Our local Pontiac dealer has the books, won't sell me the books, but the counterpeople act like it is the worst chore in the world to have to flip pages to look something up. Geez, if my job was that hard I'd really be suffering My husband used to be a GM parts counterperson years ago, when they were transitioning from books to computers, so I do know the job.

G.M. does'nt want them to go to anyone.

There's a dealership up here that changed hands last year and they had parts books from the 50s and they threw them all away.
So sad :