My experience with these motors is that you’re not going to find any apparent major difference in the castings from one side to the other that are going to contribute to one side suffering freeze breakage more often than the other.
I’d suggest that its nothing more than just bad luck combined with the habit of previous owners of storing the motor laying on its side with the starboard cylinder on the bottom with water trapped in the cooling passages.
I’ve seen breakage evident on both cylinders in some motors, and only one side or the other in some others. FWIW I’ve had three motors that had weld repairs on the port side cylinders while the starboard side was fine. to me, its more logical to find the port side damaged this way, simply because most people wouldn’t/shouldn’t store the motor with the fuel petcock on the side of the tank that is the lowest.
This conversation points to the importance of using the drain provided on the side of the water pump. With the motor standing level, removing the screw allows the water to completely drain from the powerhead. Rotating the flywheel while the drain is open helps drain things more thoroughly too, BTW. Apparently, not enough original owners of old motors were diligent enough about caring for their motor properly, and the evidence of this usually shows up just after you paid for the motor.
PM T2
He's livin' in his own private Idaho..... I hope to go out quietly in my sleep, like my grand-dad did..... and not screaming, like the passengers in his car...
