[mr48chev]

You can actually find alternator brushes listed for most rigs on the O'Reilly web site. The parts house local to you might not stock them due to low demand but they list them.

Some good advice in this one. The best probably being from Agnes the Dog on cultivating a parts person that you like so you become "their" personal customer.

Other than that do your home work and know exactly what you are looking for either by year, make and model and sub model of what the donor was or by getting the exact part number for what you need.

For most hard parts, hoses and belts the O'reilly web site will give you not only their lower priced house brand part number but give you the part number for a national brand like Gates, BCA or Wagner that can be crossed at any parts house or easily searched online. If there is more than one option as far as size it usually gives you the info on that and that gives you cause to check your old part a bit closer to know exactly what you need.

Don't blow your stack when you get the dumb kid behind the counter who just started and doesn't know squat about car parts. I did the other day and in the process told him that I didn't have the time to teach him how to look up parts. I even pointed out the specific part on his screen but he had it in his head that he needed to look up a different part than what I was asking for.

I also agree with going to the old independent been there for ever parts houses if there is one in the area as quite often they have stock on the shelves that fits our older rigs because they don't have a corporate guy coming in and telling them to pull the part and send it back because it doesn't move fast enough to take up valuable shelf space. They are also the ones that have the rack of paper catalogs over the counter and know how to use them.

I deal more and more with a parts house not far from work that is part of a local chain of parts houses that are connected to the local parts warehouse. I can run down there and ask for a part and if they don't have it on the shelf they check the warehouse and if the warehouse has it they can send a runner after it and have it on the counter in 30 minutes most of the time. They aren't always the lowest price but usually sell name brand parts and everyone on the counter is a top rate parts person.