Wow the photos at this Hemmings blog are wild and so is the story. More at the link
And to attest how bad the ash was for engines, Tom Hergert at Rocket Restorations sent over a bunch of photos he found in the archives of the Washington State Patrol.
The WSP, apparently, had the 440-cu.in. V-8 in one of the agency’s 1978 Plymouth Fury patrol cars seize up due to the ash, so the agency sent the car and engine back East for Chrysler to tear down and inspect.
“When they opened it up they found that the ash inside the cylinders had turned to glass!”