Speed Shops.... I Miss Them

[lakeroadster]

Been jumping through hoops this week on my old Ford Hot Rod. I remember as a teenager, and into my 20's, you could buy Holley carb. parts anywhere. I literally have spent 4 hours today trying to find Bowl Gaskets and Needle/Seat Gaskets for my 4150 double pumper.

Sure, I could buy the parts from Jegs or Summit, pay shipping and weight a week. But the days of jumping in your car and having the stuff in less than an hour are gone.

In high school I worked at Sears in the hardware department. Across the street from Sears was "Rocky's", the local Super Shops store. At lunch hour we would hit McDonalds for a Big Mac, fries & a shake and then head to Rocky's. Walk in the door and smell those Kelly Supercharger tires and scope out the walls covered with intakes, hood scoops, valve covers, headers, mags...... hot rod porn at it's finest.

Dammit I miss those days.

Rant Over....

[markeb01]

We had a local independent speed shop that opened in 1958. Last week I needed something only a speed shop would carry, jumped in the car and drove over. The lights were out and a sign on the front door read "Thanks for 53 years to all our loyal customers". Bummer. I share your pain. They were a bit more expensive and had limited inventory, but it sure was nice to just run down the street and grab a part compared to ordering online and being dead in the water until the parts show up.

[GeorgeLeonard]

Just so people don't miss the connection: Ordering online is what put the local speed shop out of business in the first place
Posted via Mobile Device

[Rich 5150 69]

Originally Posted by GeorgeLeonard

Just so people don't miss the connection: Ordering online is what put the local speed shop out of business in the first place
Posted via Mobile Device

Only to a point...the first gas crunch in `75 started it all, if they made it thru it the smog legalities kinda put a big crunch in the later years especially here Calif, then add in another recession, it would be hard for a small speed shop to keep its doors open, in the early sixties we had 7 speed shops in town, a lot for this size town back then, we have one left from the original seven that were devoted to strickly speed equipment, now we have two rod shops, and many rod builders here, it has gotten better, but the day of the mom and pop speed shop is gone.

[geezer#99]

You guys gotta come up this way. Here in BC we have a place called Lordco's. A speed shop and general auto parts emporium. Also Mopac located in the Vancouver area is another good place to drool over parts.
Speed shops just like in the old days.

[jocko]

i grew up just southeast of chicago in the northwest corner of Indiana and the best speed shop in the area was "Van Senus Speed Shop" on Kennedy Avenue. I used to drop by and drool over the motors sitting on the engine stands in there... Had my whole first engine rebuild done in my head before I ever had the engine - and all the parts were stuff I dreamed about in there. Yep, I'm with you Lakeroadster - I miss the ol speed shops to.

HOWEVER - the thing I miss about em is being able to chat with the old timers. Luckily, now that the internet has apparently put the speed shops out of business according to George, I have you all to chew the fat with!! And I have to admit - I get more useful info and have more fun yackin on here than I ever did across the counter at the speed shop. So if I had to choose, this forum wins hands down.

[fryer1979]

Here in the small town I have grown up in we never really have had a "speed shop" per se. But one thing I can tell you is that the regular parts stores are sure changing. Even small block Chevy parts are no longer stocking items in some cases, and a performance version of any parts is a "special order" consisting of a weeks worth of wait. I personally have worked in all three of the parts stores here in town, and even in the last 8 years since I last worked one the stock and staff have changed dramaticly. I enjoy having the online resources, and chat rooms where you can almost always find a handful of great people to learn from and help along. But it is getting frustrating having to wait for orders at big chain stores to be shipped in, on parts that 6 years ago used to be at least 3 deep on the shelf at any given time. You have to order my small block ultra-seal header gaskets? REALLY????? I hear ya guys, some of the changes are great, some.....not so much.

[glos55]

Same here guy's........I miss them too! My buddies pole barn has turned into my speed shop, he has a 30 year collection of hot rod parts. Only problem is..... we get to drinking beers and i usually end up leaving and forgetting what I went there for!!!!

[shortbed70]

I'm lucky enough to have speedwaymotors right up the road about an hour and a half so if I can't fine it in town I just take a road trip.
Posted via Mobile Device

[special-K]

I miss the era of local speed shops,too. I'd just go there to hang around,if nothing else. That was back when you didn't have "cruise-ins" for guys who buy turn key cars to put on a straw hat,Hawaiian shirt,fold out a chair and sit there. Cruise-ins are ok and there are also still "builders" who go. I'm just sayin',that's when there was a true car scene. When a kid could go hang at the speed shop and learn from the guys who knew their stuff. And yeah,it was sure nice to buy parts over the counter along with an encyclopedia of info. I would discuss my plan for a motor along with my goals for it and I'd either get approval or advise on how to better get there,before spending my money. Dave Coleman (Coleman Bros. Speed Shop) could draw you a diagram upside down so you could read it while he explained the dynamics/principals involved. They had a world class machine shop in the back and in other buildings on the property were Ladd's Porting Service and House of Balance. I never knew how lucky I was until now that these places are far and few between.

[CG]

When we were teens in the 70's going to one of the speed shops was like going to heaven. Go through the front doors and the angels would start singing =)

Course I could never afford the stuff I really wanted ... Yeah Ill take one of those Weiand 6-71 blower set ups, and a set of 15x10 Cragars wrapped in some N-50 15 Micky Thompsons.

Several of us guys used to hop in the car and drive straight through to Sacramento (I think it was around 800 miles or so one way) We would go to the Cal Expo fairgrounds to the Car Craft Street Machine Nationals. One time when we were down there we went to Tognottis Speed Shop. OMG! It was a speed shop the size of a large grocery store!

Its a shame so many people will never get the experiences we had when we were growing up in the car culture.

[GeorgeLeonard]

I would like to re emphasize that if you have a small store in your neighborhood, like a hardware store, paint store, plumbing store, etc and you like it for its convenience, please be sure to patronize it sometime by actually buying something there. Dont just go for the advice and then dance on down to Lowes or Home Depot to save a dime. Dont buy everything online or else more and more of these local merchants just wont be able to stay open. Dispensing advice doesnt pay the bills. Treat them right and they will be there when you need them. Ignore them and pay the consequences but dont complain because of something that is your own doing.

[BR3W CITY]

When I was a kid I used to hear stories of "hanging out at the speed shop". It seemed like they acted as the "barber shop" of the car culture. If there was a fast new ride in town, or a grudge etc...that was the place that new what was going down.

When I started getting into car culture (20 years later) I was sorely disapointed to find that no true speed shops exist like that anymore. We had a few "tuner shops" that were no more than crap re-sellers. There are still a few garages and dyno shops that provide the "social" function, but its not the same.

[Sillyoldman]

Originally Posted by lakeroadster

you could buy Holley carb. parts anywhere. I literally have spent 4 hours today trying to find Bowl Gaskets and Needle/Seat Gaskets for my 4150 double pumper.

Sure, I could buy the parts from Jegs or Summit, pay shipping and weight a week. But the days of jumping in your car and having the stuff in less than an hour are gone.

And dammit I miss those days.

Rant Over....

I feel your pain. I visited three chain stores in which all of them told me they would have to order in buick 455 vc gaskets for me. Heck i can get anything on the internet myself.

[yote1234]

ahhhhhh! yep.. we here in az had a bunch! still have a few..
....ed smith
....rundles
....johnny lopers

[nate_g_2003]

Competition Sales is about the closest thing we have around town that I know of. There was a Super Shops about 2 miles from my mom and dad's house when I was growing up, but sadly it closed down before I could enjoy spending money there. I remember going in there with my dad, and seeing all the chrome dress up parts on the wall behind the counter...I miss that place.

[bigblock73]

We have a great speed shop here in the cities, TNT Specialties. I get all my parts from them, they also match Jegs and Summit for prices. Nice to have them close by!

[pritch]

You know, if you don't mind spending an extra 30-50%, you could check out the boat shops. They mostly carry a good selection of HP parts. But like I said, you'll pay dearly for them.

[Kurt L]

yeah it was a shame when Honest Charlies shut down then, Super Shops came and went.

i remember i couldn't wait to go to Honest Charlies to buy parts that was an experince.

[bruin_d]

Now you're lucky if the person on the other side of the counter is even familiar with doing an oil change.

[Z16]

Originally Posted by GeorgeLeonard

Just so people don't miss the connection: Ordering online is what put the local speed shop out of business in the first place
Posted via Mobile Device

And Hobby Shops, and CD Stores, and soon DVD stores.

[pockets]

When I was growing up I remember a few
Super shops around but that didnt last long. The online shops won largely because of the explosion of aftermarket parts. Take cams for example or even carbs these days. Just too many options. A local shop just can't stock enough. Then there is price. I went to three local parts chains recently looking for a felpro intake gasket. Took me all day to find and i paid more than online with shipping.

Oh well...
Posted via Mobile Device

[LONGHAIR]

Jeg's is the local speed shop here in Columbus. There used to be 3 retail store here in town but we are down to 2 now, since the west-side one closed.
We did used to have a Super Shop too, but that was years ago.

[Dieselwrencher]

I as well miss the local speed shops. We had between 3-4 in our area when I was in high school. Now there might be one parts store that stocks a few high performance parts. My favorite speed shop, where I spent all my money , was Lavertty's performance. He was about 30 miles from me, but he had a cool set up with a machine shop in the rear. He also sold parts to my Dad when he was racing in the 60's and 70's. Every week or two I would drive down and pay him more on my bill and drewl over items in the glass shelves or the cool cars they were building in the back. I was just thinking the other day if ol' Larry saw my Corvette today he would probably climb over the counter and whip my ass!

[68C15]

the one that sticks in my ind is Dixon Automotive in Gurnee IL
I used to spend every night there after work. he was open from 4:00-8:00PM then close the doors and work in the machine shop until midnight. Ray Dixon opened the doors in the early 50s and is still in business. I havent done business with him in 11 years but if I call him he recognizes my voice and call me by name.

oh, the memories. a true to the bone L88 sitting in the corner (droooooooool), his old circle track car just around the corner and it's engine on a stand up front. a 348, but not the one you would normally think of. this was a 400 with a 327 crank and roller cam bearings. supposedly the power band started at 5000RPM

he helped me tremendously when I was building my 235 Chevy for my 40 Plymouth. he found the last Isky cam in known existence. a recommendation of his based on the "good-ol-days". he also found the 0.120 overbore pistons and vintage Clifford quad intake-header