like a bulb going off in my head I recently recalled what virtually filled the hard parts storage area of parts stores in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70s. Now that category of parts is non existent in even the mom-and-pop stores that remain in business. How many here remember the ‘good ole daze?’
What kind of parts are those?
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Performance camshafts and intakes, MSD ignition items and the like??
If not then you need to give better hints… lol
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Timing sets? Ignition points, rotors and caps? Carb rebuild kits?
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the parts were large
Ah, obviously Ford Flathead V8 rebuilt long blocks.
Edited for better sentences structure:
Ah, obviously rebuilt Ford V8 Flathead long blocks.
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Rebuilt water pumps?
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Bottles of “performance enhancing” fuel system additives?
Spray-on rust protection products?
Replacement fuel tanks?
Mufflers and exhaust pipes don’t fall off as much and are mostly in shipping centers now.
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Brake drums? Leaf springs? Sealed beam headlights?
I view “hard parts” as replacement parts, as opposed to accessories and fluids.
Auto parts stores still have inventories of replacement parts; they are distributed throughout the stores in a given district. It is impractical for each store to stock every water pump or alternator, the inventor is spread out between a half dozen stores (of the same franchise or group).
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Ive been to many of those distributors in the mid 90s, training to work in parts. The store i worked for had parts for most vehicles but some were at the warehouse available with a phone call. We’d have pricing but have to confirm availability. Depending on the location you could be in a tiny space or one was the size of a grocery store that must have had cheap rent.
Paccar owned Al’s Auto Supply and Grand Auto which ranged from Washington into California and Nevada.
Oems do the same practice. When my realatives limped into a VW dealer on Oak Harbor there happened to be the only Eurovan transmission in the country that had been shipped to the dealer from 
for a customer who decided not to get it. Gave them a discount on the price and had them back on the road in a couple days.
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Metal bumpers, fenders, rocker panels.
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I remember some shops selling Bucket-T kits, you just need to supply engine, transmission, and rearend, the rest was in the kit.
Plus some clothing items, bought a Plymouth “Heartbeat of America” windbreaker at such a store.
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For The Heartburn of America, I Spell Relief Mopar 
The Heartbeat of America is a Chevy thing (now days anyway), The slogan was used from 1986 to 1993… But I have no clue of the history before that…
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You are correct, that was Chevy. The windbreaker had a heart with a tail, so I misremembered the slogan. I bought the jacket in 67 or 68, memory is a little fuzzy.
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The “winner” was pleasedodgevan.
exhaust systems were hung in rows
until Midas introduced custom
made exhaust systems
What gives? topic solved virtually
shut me down
Missed storage area in the original post. Even then I question the solution. Storage area was not usually visible to the public. Plus just too many mufflers, exhaust pipes, and tail pipe, plus resonators for cars that had those, for many parts store to stock.
Yeah, “back in the day” they had lots of parts hanging from the ceiling or racks. Belts for example. You could take your unknown belt and physically compare it to those hanging to find a match. Back then, the people working parts stores were very knowledgeable about cars in general and the parts used. Computers didn’t exist for the most part and so they had books to look things up. But many counter people knew stuff in their heads from experience.
People with that kind of knowledge are expensive and now significantly more rare than back in the day. You can lower costs significantly if you leverage modern inventory systems. You don’t need as skilled of an employee and almost no need to physically look at/compare parts. Enter the data and get the part number. Go in back and grab it off the shelf. It does create some frustration for customers as the counter person navigates the system to find the part number… I always try to circumvent that process by arriving with their SKU # in hand.
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