Interesting, Joe - I don't know why they would blow until so much fuel got into the inlet manifold that they got a hydraulic lock during compression and broke the top of the piston or bent the connecting rod. I do recall a couple of hasty people at work doing something slightly similar quite a few years ago. Someone removed the carburetor from a V8, after pulling the battery lead, and went away to work on the carb. He'd left the car blocking the fire escape, so the next guy to come along opened the hood, banged the battery lead back on without looking at the engine, leapt in and cranked it up. The fuel line was pointed in just the right direction to drop part of the stream of fuel into the four large holes where the carburetor should have been, and the engine started. It ran very badly though, and the throttle response was non-existent, so the guy switched it off and re-opened the hood for a second look at the engine. By then there was a metre-diameter pool of fuel under the car. Nobody was very happy, but the two guys responsible were able to blame each other and that made them feel much better.
