The Mocal thermostatic plate comes with a large rubber seal and this is the ultimate sealing that you can get comparing to a tiny oring style. However, over tighten or under tighten the center bolt can lead to slight oil seepage.
I have done at least 6 oil Mocal plates installations. What I did was to be sure that both the block and the rubber seal surfaces are clean. Also make sure that the rubber seal surface is not damaged in anyway. Then lubricate the rubber seal's surface with a thin film of oil.
Finally, position and manually hold the plate where you would like the oil cooler lines to be at, torque the center bolt down to 36 ft-lb. You should never have any issues.
Now if the plate leaks somewhere else, then that would be a different issue. However, by judging your photo, the leak seemed to have come from the rubber seal gasket.
Good luck
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