So when did we last see a part counter like this:

[aussiblue]

http://www.shorpy.com/node/23145 or this http://www.shorpy.com/node/23324?size=_original#caption from http://www.shorpy.com/node?page=1 ?Sort of reminds me of what Coventry Motor's in Hay Street was like. Though Covs had those vacuum tube things that sent you payment upstairs and the receipts back down.

[GASWAGON]

Modak British bike parts in Elizabeth Street Melbourne used to be like that.

Walk in and ask for anything Triumph/BSA/AJS/Norton etc etc and they would very easily walk down the back and pick it.

Apparently they're shutdown now.....I hav'nt been in there for a very long time.

Oh how i miss the good old days.

[GO FURTHER]

...And they were probably better stocked with spares than some of the auto part stores around today.

How I miss the days, when old cars were simpler, easier to work on, and with less electronics and computers.

[9triton]

Originally Posted by CoolBFWagon

Modak British bike parts in Elizabeth Street Melbourne used to be like that.

Walk in and ask for anything Triumph/BSA/AJS/Norton etc etc and they would very easily walk down the back and pick it.

Apparently they're shutdown now.....I hav'nt been in there for a very long time.

Oh how i miss the good old days.

modaks - yep a classic place for sure

he closed the shop in early 2018- but now operates via a website - sadly a sign of the times
https://talesofbrickandmortar.com/20...cles-est-1930/

[Ratmick]

There was a tool shop at the top end of Elizabeth Street once, now gone, that used to have counters at ground level and they'd shoot money up to the cash desk on a mezzanine level along a wire with a slingshot...

I think they have been called Ryans Tools (now North Melbourne).

[EBSXR6]

Originally Posted by Ratmick

There was a tool shop at the top end of Elizabeth Street once, now gone, that used to have counters at ground level and they'd shoot money up to the cash desk on a mezzanine level along a wire with a slingshot...

I think they have been called Ryans Tools (now North Melbourne).

WL Ryan 590 Elizabeth Street.

Bills other business

http://www.rycofilters.com.au/company/company-heritage

[roKWiz]

Mid 70's to late 80's, down on Church St, Parramatta I can remember Kustom Image being like the motorbike parts store shown above with every conceivable go fast part available.
Can anyone remember the fasteners hardware store which was next door with the two older ladies behind the parts counter (usually dressed in cardigans) who knew every part number and replacement bolt on my 76 Kingswood panel van I was rebuilding at the time.
Saturday morning was usually a gathering around the door with vintage car restorers mixed with street / hot rodders chasing the elusive nut and bolt.

Now days one of my favourite places is Gilbert and Roach Kenworth at Hexham with Truckline and Cummins diesel next door...
"will work for chrome" comes to mind.

[simon varley]

four candles?

[happy1]

For those in northern suburbs of Perth, there is a parts counter like that in Wangara, (opposite Wanneroo Markets),

I have been buying parts of them a few times, competitive prices and lots of parts in stock. Sorry can't remember the name.

[XByoot]

When I was a kid I’d work at a bike shop during school holidays.“Newtown Motorcycles” in King st, Newtown, Sydney. It was an old wooden floored showroom/spares, but nowhere near as comprehensive as Modak, that is an awesome pic! Another joint (name escapes me) in Sydney was in an old terrace house in a Regent st, near central, stuff everywhere, but they always seemed to have what you needed. Great times

[XC50077]

[QUOTE=roKWiz;6128128]
Can anyone remember the fasteners hardware store which was next door with the two older ladies behind the parts counter (usually dressed in cardigans) who knew every part number and replacement bolt on my 76 Kingswood panel van I was rebuilding at the time.
Saturday morning was usually a gathering around the door with vintage car restorers mixed with street / hot rodders chasing the elusive nut and bolt.

The bolt store was LEE Bros and the lady behind the counter was Peggy and really knew her bolts and always had time for a chat.
Lees are still going in North Parramatta in much more modern premises.
BTW their old machine shop behind the old Church st store was from the early 1920's and was quite a sight for any old machinery enthusiasts.
Cheers.

[wodahs]

http://www.shorpy.com/node/23145
reminds me of all the stores rooms we had scattered thru out the W.A.G.R. work shops across Western Australia , midland workshops alone had basically one stores room in each department
and if you couldn't find what you needed you jumped in a vehicle and went round to the stores in the other workshops/locations ie forrestfield/kewdale/robs jetty/claisebrook pr east perth (vehicle section) shunt yards/workshops failing that you went to look in the scrapping yard around the back of the midland workshops
oh and half the time a part number was "it looks fine to do whats needed" and the bloke at the counter always let you in to wander the stores area as you didn't need the security

[Interceptor]

Lee Auto Supply in Alamaeda, California

https://jalopnik.com/5307501/carpoca...o-parts-stores

I was in there in 2016..... awesome place

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by 9triton

modaks - yep a classic place for sure

he closed the shop in early 2018- but now operates via a website - sadly a sign of the times
https://talesofbrickandmortar.com/20...cles-est-1930/
image

image

Very cool ...You can almost smell the old school store . One of my passions in model rail and rail in general . We used to have a great store called Tiger Models and Hobbies to buy retail from . Not anymore . Despite it trading okay the older aged owner chose to close because nobody wanted to continue retail in the face of online availability and cheaper prices . He closed the doors a few months back . Another favourite Birchalls Book Store that had traded for way in excess of a century also shut down. An institution in Brisbane Street Mall for so long said "So Long". Many a purchase and browse while in Launceston is now not possible . Sign of the times as you rightly say.

[roKWiz]

[QUOTE=XC50077;6128576]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Can anyone remember the fasteners hardware store which was next door with the two older ladies behind the parts counter (usually dressed in cardigans) who knew every part number and replacement bolt on my 76 Kingswood panel van I was rebuilding at the time.
Saturday morning was usually a gathering around the door with vintage car restorers mixed with street / hot rodders chasing the elusive nut and bolt.

The bolt store was LEE Bros and the lady behind the counter was Peggy and really knew her bolts and always had time for a chat.
Lees are still going in North Parramatta in much more modern premises.
BTW their old machine shop behind the old Church st store was from the early 1920's and was quite a sight for any old machinery enthusiasts.
Cheers.

XC50077,
Wow that's great to hear they still operate, must look them up while I'm up around Sydney.
American Auto parts when they were at Homebush were a bit of an Aladdin's cave too.

[Rallye Sport]

Originally Posted by happy1

For those in northern suburbs of Perth, there is a parts counter like that in Wangara, (opposite Wanneroo Markets),

I have been buying parts of them a few times, competitive prices and lots of parts in stock. Sorry can't remember the name.

Was it Car Bitz? he was next to the markets but gone now, shame he was good.
Haven't been to Odin autos in a while, they had a good network of second hand parts and local mechanics. I remember being sent around to some random guys house to press some axle bearings, thats all he did out of his home garage.
I remember driving out to Oxford auto's in Leederville for Anglia parts with the old man as a kid. It was the only parts shop in Perth open on a Sunday.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by EBSXR6

WL Ryan 590 Elizabeth Street.

Bills other business

http://www.rycofilters.com.au/company/company-heritage

Spent many a dollar there in it's heyday. Still have the tools and use them. Brilliant store of the like we will never see again.

[GASWAGON]

Originally Posted by EBSXR6

WL Ryan 590 Elizabeth Street.

Bills other business

http://www.rycofilters.com.au/company/company-heritage

Aah yeah i remember that shop.

I bought my very first set of Stahwille spanners from that shop alooong time ago.

Still got all of them too, and most of my original tools i bought as an apprentice plus all the rest along the way.

Although, i did manage to bend the 15mm ringy one day somehow which is rare for Stahlwillie's.

[olds]

The guys behind the jump in the old school spare parts could give the part number off the top of their head.
Unlike the three places (all well known after market outlets) I took my son to get a clutch pedal pad rubber the other day ,that all asked for model, make,year and is it manual or "AUTO". When the girl at the third place asked we both teared up we were laughing that much.

[jmack]

Originally Posted by Ratmick

There was a tool shop at the top end of Elizabeth Street once, now gone, that used to have counters at ground level and they'd shoot money up to the cash desk on a mezzanine level along a wire with a slingshot...

I think they have been called Ryans Tools (now North Melbourne).

yeah it was great in there as a kid watching the invoices get catapulted along the wires up to the office and back

[4vxc]

Originally Posted by olds

The guys behind the jump in the old school spare parts could give the part number off the top of their head.
Unlike the three places (all well known after market outlets) I took my son to get a clutch pedal pad rubber the other day ,that all asked for model, make,year and is it manual or "AUTO". When the girl at the third place asked we both teared up we were laughing that much.

the thing is when searching for a part using ezy or peach or similar thats the way the program works.
If someone asks for something like filters or pads that you know off the top of your head you just grab them off the shelf but if they are after something unusual you have to go through the whole process.
It works well because 90% of people doing spare parts either don't want to be there or know jack about anything automotive.
Going through the process helps make sure you get the right part as long as the customer gives the correct info.
When I say auto spare parts I dont mean places like Super Cheap because they are more a general bits and pieces place with very little or no knowledge required.
Don't write the spare parts girls off, I know two who run rings around most guys.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by 4vxc

Don't write the spare parts girls off, I know two who run rings around most guys.

most of the ones I've worked with have been pretty damn good.... one drove an LC torana, and we'd get guys regularly asking who owned it..... jaws dropped when we pointed at her!

[roKWiz]

Dropped into my favourite truck parts place for some more Louisville stuff before I left Sydney. Always well stocked with lots of....
bling, bling, bling.