Hey guys... We're in the process of renovating our basement. The home is over 100 years old, and damned if most of the plumbing isn't about the same. We currently have a laundry tub, which has an old school utility pump under it. The exact order is laundry tub --> p-trap and a tee to an ancient float switch --> utility pump --> vertical pipe --> 45 degree bend --> vertical pipe --> 180 degree bend --> 90 degree bend --> y-pipe which also drains the kitchen --> drain pipe.

As you can see in the mess on the pic, the drain pipe is gigantic, old cast iron. The ABS piping currently leaks from 2-3 places (on top of not being done right in the first place, we had a sewer backup that built pressure up a year or so ago)...

So, I'm planning on literally yanking everything and starting over. Got a new tub, a fancy new utility pump with self-contained float, and will be getting all the necessary ABS.

I have three questions:

1) Is the current piping used from the tub to the drain needlessly complicated? Can I not just go tub --> p-trap --> pump --> vertical pipe --> 90 degree --> drain? Or is that 180 degree there for a reason?

2) What would be the easiest way to tie back into that cast iron? It's hard to see, but I'm assuming there's some sort of sealing sleeve from the ABS to the cast iron. Should I leave that and cut 2" out from the cast iron, and try to put another Y-connector there? Or try to pull the whole thing out of the drain and start over?

3) The cast iron drain goes along the ceiling to the other side of the room, then does an immediate 90 degree down, and then another bend out of the house. Should I expect to get wet when I pull the ABS out of the cast iron? I would assume since it's well above the actual outlet out of the house, there shouldn't be all that much in there... Should I have a bucket ready?

Thanks for the help.