Paul,
That's the beauty of this forum, lots of information and ideas!
While what you say is basically true, I must still recommend m/d as an assembly lube. The protection it offers, most importantly to bearing surfaces, far out weigh any chance of
oil filter blockage. You simply do not use an amount that would cause any significant restriction. Combine this with the fact that break-in
oil is generally not run for a long period of time.
My opinion comes from professional experience as a prototype engine builder for Honda Research and Developement here in Ohio. Honda has some of the most stringent engineering requirements of any automotive company, and our engineering standards actually call for using m/d as an assembly lube. To date, we have never experienced any failure do to an
oil restriction problem in the filter, or otherwise, due to use of m/d. Our own tests have shown it offers superior bearing surface protection, thus our requirement. I'd be curious as to which research you refer to. I will assume it was done or funded by someone in the petroleum industry who has some sort of vested interest in this.
In the end, each individual must sort through all the information, and decide what's best for him/her.
I do appreciate your thoughts on this, and always welcome intelligent discussion.
Dave