It seems to me that there ought to be a way to go in through the
dipstick with a filtered compressed air wand or something to fog oil in
the crankcase to get a pre-lube, as well as to periodically lube the
inside of the engine during a period of inactivity.

It would probably require the oil to be warm to atomize it. There is a
major baffle system in the crankcases that prevent the oil from being
sucked into the whirling machinery. That baffle system would tend to
defeat most attempts at atomization in the sump. It wouldn't take much
oil though to fog things enough to eventually get the insides of the
crankcase wet. I'd like to try it sometime to find out. Anyone want
to saw a hole in their crankcase?

I generally agree with Tanis on the importance of cold start preheat,
but my '75 C172M is now at 1700 TTSN & has never been apart.
Compression and oil consumption hasn't changed, & obviously it gets
flown infrequently. The last oil analysis was 5.8 PPM of iron. It
has a Tanis score of about 17. I only preheat the oil & use a blanket
on the engine.

The key, especially with Lycomings, is to NEVER do a cold start without
preheat below like 40 degrees - warmer if it has been sitting for some
weeks & warmer if you don't have winter oil, but otherwise keep it cold
if it is not being flown.

I now have started to shut off the fuel & run the carb empty if it
isn't going to be run for a week or more. I try to purge the engine of
combustion gasses & use autofuel almost exclusively. It really helps
restarting next time with autofuel.