Beating a dead horse - Vortec coolant bypass

[Portland68]

Can’t believe I haven’t been able to find a decent solution between this website and the google machine, but here we are again.

I’ve got my bypass in the correct location (pardon the poor routing, we were in a pinch) and will be trying out some pre bent hose, but I’m curious if I can run the hose directly to the radiator spot circled in the picture or if I should just drill 2 3/16 holes in the thermostat.

I haven’t been able to find a good solution and the motor got way hot when I first fired it up, probably due to trapped air at the t stat and my temporary hose. What solutions seem to work for you all?