Speaking of dumb moves... I blew my engine up about two weeks ago. Tried to start it, forgetting that the the plugs were out. The fuel under the cowling caught a spark somewhere and BLAMO! Lesson learned there. The explosion separated one of the latches from the cowling (which was easily epoxied back), blowing it halfway open and starting a small fire that burned on the fuel and oil in the motor housing until extinguished. I then learned that the extinguisher on the boat had no charge and had to dash for another in the garage. Overall no damage. Just some burnt wire sleeves. The only real bummer was that some fire extinguisher discharge made it into the open cylinders. I blew them out with compressed air and cleaned it the best I could. I'm hoping that didn't or won't cause any harm.
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