Plumbing route Q's

[Icarus prospector]

Now that the thing is gutted, the holes filled and the parts are arriving, and so I do this thing a service rather than perpetuate the neglect it's endured- On my 454/T400/C500 setup, I know I will have one pickup for the motor. What the previous guy did was have a second pickup going through the tranny cooler and then through the splitcase Casale (for sale!) and out another hole in the bottom. Is this the prefered way?
I got the engine part, excepting I'm wondering about a thermostat/housing. As I'm going to run a remote cooler for the engine oil, where does that get it's water in the scheme of things? Cooler before thermostat?
And is the heat generated by the T400 being sent to the C500 not the best soultion?
Thanks in advance!

[2manymustangs]

My friend runs a T400 into his casalle and the trans is set up with a sprint car torque converter eliminator. With no converter you have alot less weight and very little heat. The slipping of the fluid coupling in the conveter is where most of the heat in an automatic trans comes from. He does have a small powersteering type cooler mounted in his trans line but I suspect that isn't even necessary. The TQ Converter eliminator is just a part that runs the transmission pump off of the flexplate.

[Icarus prospector]

Yes, I'm running a spline drive, eliminating the torque converter.

[79 Howard]

I feed my motor with 1 pick-up and my other feeds the oil cooler to tranny cooler to casale and exit thru a small pick-up turned towards the transom under the hull, others exit thru the propshaft seal

[Icarus prospector]

Sounds like the plan.

[Icarus prospector]

Something occurs to me while I'm looking through the AN fittings box...
As I'm running a -10 to my water pump and -8's from there, I'm thinking that I'll run a -10 to the oil cooler as well seeing as how it's going to cool the motor and then the trans and then the V drive, I wonder if necking down to a -6 at the outlet of the Casale box is going to adversely restrict the flow and thus the cooling.
Any thoughts?

[coolchange]

it can't flow more than the most restrictive point. Remember, In at the bottom, out at the top when plumbing water lines.

[Icarus prospector]

That's kind of what I was thinking, that the water would "stall". Is there a rule of thumb with plumbing a engine oil cooler to tranny cooler to Casale and out? I'm thinking a -8 would suffice? Also, I'd have to Tee off a small -6 to the shaft seal...