It’s a rare thing to find an auto parts place that actually employees people who know cars and who are not screen readers. I have one store (Now a carquest; but I still call it Monroe Sealfast) in Brockport that my family has been using for years. It’s the old-school shop with the barstools where you stop in, tell them whatcha need shoot the shit (I mean real car shit, not whatever) and walk out with your part for 2/3rds the price of autozone or advanced.
I walked into advance and asked for a new rearend cover gasket for a GM car 12-bolt; don’t have a reference seeing it’s a Strange 12-bolt that’s custom for the Firebird. He just looked and asked what car it was for… after 10 minutes of arguing with him and telling him it was not a stock axle and him saying there’s no way I could put that axle in the car and that it didn’t come in that car, I walked out. Drove to Sealfast, walked in, told Jimmy (One of the owners) what I wanted, no car reference, no other questions, just a cover gasket for a GM car 12-bolt; and within a minute he was back upfront with a Felpro gasket that was dead on. No books, no looking it up, no plugging a keyboard, just knowing cars, what parts are what… it’s a dying style there…