It's fairly common for boat motors not to get properly (if at all) winterized for storage. I think it's the number one killer of boat motors. And I think it's more important that it gets done at all, rather than precisely the way it gets done. Over the years I have used different procedures for fogging and storing, partly depending on the motor layout. Always successful, never had an internal problem with a motor. (Now that I have an E-Tec, I give the command and the engine fogs itself to a far better level than anyone could reasonably achieve manually, then shuts itself down).
The startup procedure for a motor that's been sitting for a long time has to be different than normal, if damage risk is to be minimized. Even if the motor has been properly fogged, the oil (and fogging oil is thinner to start with) starts to run down and make a thinner and thinner film in time, meaning ever-diminishing corrosion protection and lubrication. At what point in time does that become critical? How would you know?
I have frequently heard of someone starting an engine that's been sitting (years I'm talking here) and then discovering that things are scored, abraded or worn, concluding that all that happened because the engine was sitting for too long. “Oh well, the motor was no good”.
The real story is that the engine was still perfectly good, until they failed to properly lubricate it before attempting to start it. The engine damage happened as a direct result of the engine running without lubrication, and not as a result of “sitting”. (Not to say some corrosion couldn't happen from just sitting over time as well, of course). I saw this on a TV show once- they started an antique motorcycle up that had been sitting in a barn for years – big foolish risk by some antiquers, made me grimace. It would have needed an engine rebuild long before otherwise would have been necessary.
BEFORE starting a motor from long storage for the first time the motor should be manually lubricated, fogged, oil sprayed in the plug hole(s), down the carb etc etc. I used to help a friend who would buy old boats from storage and renovate and sell them. For a V8 we made a shaft that would fit down in place of the distributor to turn the oil pump with a drill, spinning the oil pump and pumping the oil throughout the engine for a few minutes BEFORE attempting to turn over or start the motor. It avoided the risk of damage from start up.
In the case of modern well-designed bearings, once in operation there is no contact between the metal surfaces because a space is continually maintained (just like the boundary air layer in the case of a hard drive platter) by a hydrodynamic wedge of oil that prevents it. So wear is ZERO at this time. (There is a wives' tale that this is not so, in spite of the fact that it's easily demonstrated by the lack of electrical continuity between the two. Those particular wives do not make good engineers, lol). Wear does happen on startup though, before oil has had a chance to recirculate through the engine to the contact surfaces and form its wedge or barrier film.
I agree that there is NO risk of scoring the cylinder walls, or anything else, if you do not turn the motor over. To be sure, you might want to fog or oil again before doing that too many times.
If you aren't fogging with the engine running through the carbs, then with the plugs out, squirt oil at the TOP of the cylinder while you pull the cord (assuming horizontal piston travel). The oil will run down the perimeter of the rings to make a ring of oil that will be smeared over the swept area of the cylinder walls when you turn the motor over. You might also get sprayed by oil, so cover the plug hole(s) with a rag when you do this. That spray will also reach the top chamber of the cylinder as well. Put the plug(s) in and give a few more (hard) pulls.
I also close the choke (and throttle) valves (as mentioned) to impede the air/ moisture movement while in storage. (In fact some small two strokes recommend using the choke to shut the motor off every time). More effective than that (particularly with a single cylinder) is to give the cord a pull to the point that it gets hard to pull, then stop. That is the point of compression, when both intake and exhaust valves are closed (or ports covered) and therefor the cylinder is effectively sealed from the atmosphere, moisture and its corrosion. A good configuration to leave an engine in to maximize storage method effectiveness.
Note when the engine is fogged that all sealing points (valves, ports, rings) have extra oil on them, so the compression point will be much more pronounced than usual. And capillary action will maintain that film at these contact points (where you want it) for a longer time than if they were open.
-B.
