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Old Supply Company Liquidation!

Parts Inventory

Reader Bill M recently bought an hoard of old stuff and there appears to be some interesting old pieces of equipment and random items in here. He wasn’t sure what to do with it all, so he decided he’d send us some information and photos. Pretty much everything in the photos is up for grabs, so if you see something you want be sure to email him here! He also needs a little help identifying what he thinks might be the canopy from a WWII era fighter plane. Here is what he has to say about all this stuff. From Bill – Hey guys, I’ve recently bought a 15,000 square foot hoard of stuff in Maryland, it was a farm, marine & hardware supply company that closed in the late 1960s!

Air plane canopy

Here are a few pics of what I believe is a WW2 German cockpit window assembly (the color indicates WW2 Germany). I have been attempting to identify what aircraft it was built for. It has a small exhaust vent at the center top, this suggests it was the rear part of the cockpit window assembly, and it appears that the windows in front of it are hinged in the center, like a fighter cockpit. Perhaps one of you might be able to ID it!

Homelite Mower Car

Included is a very unusual & rare “car” . . . A Homelite MowerCar. Gotta be a car, says so in it’s name!

1920s Kohler 4 cyl generator unit, the first all-in-one power plant. So rare even Kohler doesn't have one in their museum!

A rather unusual WW2 Homelite generator, designed to operate upside down [crank above cylinder]. I have about a half dozen WW2 Homelite generators. Schramm-Ford air compressor, overall view, still in the barn. Schramm-Ford V8 left cylinder head Used 3 cylinder Detroit diesel engine, said to be in excellent condition, w/auto trans attached.

Also found in the hoard: 1944 Simplex motorbike, ex-Army Air Force, complete [with extra parts], but needs restoration. Still has original Simplex tires both flat. Five, yes, 5 brand new (still in the crates) 1950s vintage Avco-Lycoming Bernard single cylinder air cooled diesel engines (great as inboard motors for boats). A 1942 Indian Motorcycle engine/gearbox assemblies, war surplus, still in their wooden crates (already sold). 1945 Continental opposed 4 cylinder Diesel engines, the last 2 remaining (out of 10 test motors). Ever seen a flat 4 diesel? The Navy ordered 10 for testing & destroyed 8 before stopping the tests, seems flat 4 diesels tear themselves apart!

Some of the inventory for the Evinrude dealership's parts department.

2 of the Bernard Diesel engines, still in the wooden crates!  One of the 2 remaining Continental 4 cyl air cooled diesels. Wisconsin V4 power pack, new, never used. New, never run 1953 Wisconsin V4 power pack on skids.  Various small engines.

And in another building I found dozens of Wisconsin engines, all new, never used. Still have a couple of V4 Powerpack Wisconsins (engine, lever clutch & fuel tank on skids), plus a large Wisconsin parts inventory. Schramm-Ford air compressor, very unusual, utilizing a flathead Ford V8, with special heads, manifolds & camshaft, converting the engine to a V4 gasoline engine & V4 air compressor, all in one block. It too is on a trailer/skids, brand new, never used! (If memory is good, it has about 15 hours on the hour meter.) Also have a full “unpicked” parts inventories for Evinrude outboard motors & Wright Chainsaws too!

IMG_0264

 

Early Elto & Evinrude twin outboard motor Early Elto & Evinrude twin outboard motor Various small engines, both new old stock, and used. Most of the new engines are sold.  Brand new in box, never started, Homelite hi vol water pump. Brand new, never started, 2 cylinder, 2-stroke Kohler ultralite airplane engine.

Bill has a lot of stuff here and to make it a bit easier to figure out what’s what, I’ve included information about some of the bigger items in the respective items photo.

Comments

  1. Avatar Rotarydave

    Bill if I was you you proximity to DC I would contact the guy at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum there resources they could probably get a whole bunch of it identified and might even have people they know of looking for some of it. Additionally I am currently stationed in MD active army drop me an email would love to see the stuff an see if there is anything I can help with

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Dave: Took it to Udvar-Hazy facility at Dulles, they had no clue as to what it fits, also didn’t seem interested in researching it further. I also showed pics to the archivist & historian with the Collins Foundation, again, no luck identifying it. You didn’t leave an email address, mine is billmccoskey@aol.com. Due to the privacy concerns for the family, my girlfriend & I are the only people they allow onto the property, as they still have far more than what I bought.
      I can send you pics of the canopy if you think you’ll have better luck.

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  2. Avatar JW

    Amazing stuff, this collection is a real time capsule of the 60’s.

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  3. Avatar blindmarc

    Would LOVE to get the Indian engine & parts!

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  4. Avatar Bill

    I’m in Delaware, where in MD. is this stuff I would like to see the Continental diesel
    They are experimenting with a diesel in a Cessna 172. I don’t know if it is opposed or not.

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      I have the engines at my farm in Taneytown, MD. In my research, flat 4 engines are inherently unbalanced, and the stresses involved with 18 to 1 compression diesel engines, hitting first one side of the crank then the other, tears them apart. I have yet to see any Diesel flat 4 engines, and mechanical engineers who specialize in engines say they can’t be made to last.

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  5. Avatar Tom

    Has bill got any vintage ATVs or amphibious 6×6 / 8×8 ?

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      I have a couple of rear drive axles I can’t ID, the family thinks they are for ATV’s. Can send pics if you think you can ID.
      Also have a brand new 2 cyl 2-stroke 400cc Kohler ATV/snowmobile engine, never started.
      Nothing else.

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  6. Avatar Kevin Member

    Not to butt in, but this canopy looks to me like something Grumman – Wildcat, Avenger or Hellcat… Curious to hear what Air and Space thinks, if they are consulted…

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    • Avatar Col Chis

      Concur with Avenger like aircraft.
      Parts spares are usually painted a stock color and U.S. Navy gray may be what’s on these.
      We still receive parts painted green in the Army where everything deployed in tan for the last 10 years.

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Not F4F Wildcat, Not hellcat, but it IS an Avenger front section of the cockpit windows. The attached pic is absolutely the same unit.
      THANKS FOR YOUR HELP WHEN THE “EXPERTS” HAD NOT A CLUE!

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  7. Avatar DougM

    possible Dornier bomber, as Rotarydave suggests, try the restore folks at the Smithsonian, will pass along info to a friend who does collectable outboards

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  8. Avatar Fred

    I would highly suggest the owner contact Antique Archaeology (American Pickers). Sounds right up their alley and he can be on Tee-Vee. I sent a suggestion that they check out an 80 year old Dickson TN hardware store and a year later, there it was in front of me on the show.

    http://www.antiquearchaeology.com/got_stuff.php

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      When the pickers were at Gettysburg a couple of years ago, they talked with my barber [the barbers in small towns know who has the stuff!] who said to go see me. The advance team came to my farm, but I said no, I’ve been on TV for my antique stuff before, and besides, I don’t sell wholesale. They would never have bought anything from me as I sold retail. That’s how I made my living!

      Like 0
  9. Avatar bennie

    interested in the simplex, how can I get in touch with you

    Like 0
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

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      • Avatar Blindmarc

        Looks like a simplex

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      • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

        Just so you guys know, this Simplex is a WW2 version for the Army Air Force out of Dover AFB. Still wears it’s Air Force blue paint on the fenders. While various parts are not currently on the bike, it’s 100% complete [even the special gas cap], and comes with parts from another Simplex he parted out. Parts go with bike, not sold separately.

        While Simplex bikes were built in New Orleans, LA, a few were assembled in Baltimore, as this one was. An instruction tag at the ignition switch says that if the rider runs out of gasoline, he should get off the bike, roll it onto it’s left side for 30 seconds, then pull it back up again. A 1/2 gallon reserve on the right side of the fuel tank will empty into the main tank, allowing up to 50 more miles of riding.

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      • Avatar Ed P

        If we could just tilt our cars for more gas, that would be great.

        Like 0
  10. Avatar jim s

    looks like a lot of work/fun. are you think onsite or online auction? great find

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Bruce L

    I see some items I may be interested in and you state we should E-mail him if interested….I just don’t know how to find his E-mail!

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  12. Avatar junkman Member

    Lionel trains? I’m definitely interested in those, please advise, Thanks, Jeff

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    • Avatar taxijohn

      Yes i noticed them. But i’m in the UK so a bit far to come to view!!!

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Sorry, trains sold very quickly.

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  13. Avatar Karl

    Ah, hoarders, I love ’em.
    It is certainly some kind of mental disorder for someone to hang on to a massive pile of stuff like this, never sell any, never give any away, never back up the dumpster truck to be rid of it, but even so, people who do this do a strange sort of service for people like us who cherish old cars (and motorcycles, and trucks, and outboard motors, and stationary engines, etc., etc.) Not only because they give us a crack at owning or repairing these old machines, but because they provide a sort of window to the past, enabling us to hold something in our hand and not just read about it in a book or on the Internet. It’s like opening the mummy’s tomb–antiquity is suddenly very real, although it probably sounds wacky to get misty-eyed about a giant pile of Evinrude parts.
    Bill, you’re my kind of guy.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      There were 3 sons involved, 2 wanted the stuff to be preserved, one had no interest & wanted to junk it all. Before I got involved, he took an 8′ long truckload of vintage paperwork, brochures, flyers, manuals & more, loaded it up & paid to have it shredded & recycled. I explained afterwards that he had destroyed at least $50,000 in paperwork. There were a couple of cases of English language Porsche tractor brochures. An individual Porsche Tractor brochure in English sells for $100. That is, if you can find one. These were 100/box.

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  14. Avatar JW454

    In pictures 20 and 24… the green generator. I have one just like this. Mine was used to power a ranger station in a national park in Ohio in the early 1950s. It still works but it weighs a ton.

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  15. Avatar Blindmarc

    The wealth of knowledge here just leaves me speakless sometimes………

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  16. Avatar krash

    ….thanks to everyone ..

    ..another informative history lesson….

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  17. Avatar RickyM

    Well done Bill – great load of stuff and I also enjoyed reading everyone’s comments too. Brilliant !

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  18. Avatar Peter

    There are no words…. (Okay, there are–I, too, would be contacting Antique Archeology, if one didn’t want to sell it all themselves, individually. And that Flathead Ford V-8 converted into a V-4 Engine/V-4 Compressor is too cool for words!).

    Thanks for posting!

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  19. Avatar Mark-A

    Seems the Clever Technicians at Subaru have managed to make a Horizontally Opposed Diesel that DOESN’T destroy itself, http://www.boxerdiesel.com/engineering/en/01.html
    thought I’d share with you!

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    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      Mark – Thanks for providing the Subaru link. I did some more looking, and on searching “Subaru diesel problems”, I found that they continue to have some problems with crankshafts shearing/breaking. I give them a lot of guts for creating one, when everyone said it couldn’t be done.

      Like 0

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