Wow, this whole thread is painful to read. earlwb has some good points that I would like to add to. On the one example of an engine that was reversed here, there was reference to greater compression when the engine was rotated in one direction compared to the other. My bet is this engine had some time on it and had established wear patterns. On most any engine that is run in, turning the crank backwards will give you a greater feel of compression than when the engine is turned in the normal direction. This is due to rod angle pushing on the piston and the slight amount of piston rock in the bore more closely approximating real life run conditions than when turning in the normal direction. If one starts with a new piston and sleeve before the reverse process, I firmly believe that reversed engine will have a greater compression feel when turned in the normal CCW direction. Its all about wear patterns and the slight piston rock in the bore when the engine is hand cranked. Has nothing to do with which direction the cylinder and piston are installed. You simply get a better compression feel when the engine is rotated backwards to normal rotation. Don't believe it .... you can test this on most any ringed engine, large or small.

Now to open a new can of worms, if you can rotate the cylinder / piston in a DLE55, the piston skirt will wear less on the bypass side!