Engine pre run oil pump

“to live or die” That advertisment is fear mongering to sell product at its finest. Somehow the pistons didn’t make their list of “critical engine components.” As nm9stheham mentioned, the pistons won’t see oil from an accumulator system. I’ve opened up junkyard engines that had the intake removed, been rained on for months, and the crank isn’t rusty under the bearings, and the bearings still had a film of oil.

Sure, some helicopters have a pre oil system, but they are also a single engine aircraft and must rotate a large, 12’+ main rotor and a smaller tail rotor. It can take upwards of a full minute for a turbo prop to reach full operating speed and that means it will see lower oil pressures and considerably less cooling air during start. Your SBM will see oil pressure within seconds of engine cranking and you don’t have the strain and load of trying to turn prop mass simultaneously. The equivalent of trying to start up your A-body with it being in 1st gear, every time, cranking over the wheels.

When aircraft are prepared for extreme cold like Antarctica, their engines are equipped with pre heaters, not pre oilers. It’s more effective to heat the oil and surrounding engine components than to prime it with oil. Wear is more from the cold, not a lack of oil starvation.

In your case, keep it in the garage where it is warmer. Add an oil pan and block heater. Fog the cylinders with a winterizer product before storage. And use a high quality oil filter that wont drain-back oil to the pan. If you’re still worried about the bearings after months of storage, why not just pop the distributor and prime the system that way? You can mark the distributor to get it back within 2* of phase, easily. Before the season starts, it’s almost necessary to check and adjust ignition timing anyways.