Need opinions-Cooling&freeze plugs

[johnwaynejeep]

I pulled my engine and found my cooling system is a little overboard and wanted to get the experts opinion. My heater core return line splits off and pipes into the lower engine next to the oil pan, and into the top of the motor right next to the thermostat housing. Is this normal, should I change it?

I pulled my engine and I'm in a good position to replace all my freeze plugs. Should I replace the freeze plugs or leave well enough alone? also how do I change the freeze plugs, as far as I can tell they're just hunks of brass jammed in a hole, is there a safe way to remove these without the risk of having to drill them out and drop metal shavings in the block?

the rest of this is all background, no reason to read further

when I pulled my engine I found I had no thermostat, no heated air intake, an auxiliary oil cooler and a transmission cooler. All this in a state with an average annual temperature below freezing. this thing belongs on the surface of the sun, not Alaska. I'm looking to fix all this so it runs and maintains at the right temperature. Any suggestions are appreciated