That's kinda what I figured Chuck, about blowing the plug first, not the engine. Who knows though, maybe it caused the plug to blow, then the element fell down into the cyl. and wiped the piston/ sleeve? Whatever, could be the guy just didn't know how to adjust an engine. And about the glitch thing, it doesn't seem to me that non-ferrous metals cause glitching. Steel parts yes, but in my experiences anyway, alum. or brass, etc. contacting ea. other doesn't make any real ammount of "noise" (does it? maybe a radio guy would know better) Back in the "old days" (I'm talking mid '70's when I started) we were extra careful to avoid any metal to metal contacts, but these modern radios are much less sensitive to that.