When you do run the water many will recommend coming off the front of the engine, specifically the elbow going into the thermostat and somewhere around the pump.
I chose to do mine this way:
I know it looks like it's touching the headers but there's about 1" of clearance. no problems.
I tried plastic T's but they wouldn't hold up. The hoses are different diameters so I needed something I could clamp down hard on. The brass T's from Lowes did the trick nicely and I kinda like the way they look in the engine bay. Kinda throw-back-ish with the brass on the straight 6. If I had an LS in there they wouldn't fit in at all but with the 6 they somehow do.
