Pipe dream bench racing turbo "idea"

First off I will probaly never do this but I've had the idea bouncing around in my head for a while and was curious what every one elses thoughts were :).

Ive got a couple Holset VGT turbos stashed away. They are way to big to try to fit on the back of 8V. But since Im your typical cheap TMer Id love to use one. They have the big HE cold side and a undivided hot side that can be adjusted from 4 to 24cm. As far as I know no controller exists for the stock stepper motor. But a guy could build a adjustable arm and make it so you could adjust your hot size side. Just lock it in place. Adjust it for spool time, or on a dyno to see what makes the most power. A few years ago I did see a guy using one on a DSM. He built a contraption that used a normal WG can and at 8psi it changed the size of the hotside. Kinda like a poor mans VNT. Sadly the motor blew shortly after the turbo swap and I never saw more on the car.

So here is what I was thinking after seeing the new front mount turbo craze, why not put it in the front? Move the battery and put it in its place. Run the exhaust straight out the hood, and you could plumb the intake out the front where the headlight is.

But the best way to do this you need a expensive "sidewinder" header. This has two main problems for me. Cost, even if I built this myself and it would cover up the timing window. So I was thinking of using a tbi mani. Mod it to have a vband flange and then just plumb it forward to the turbo with 2.5 exhaust pipe? Of course I would wrap it up to keep the heat in. But this would be a chreap and easy way to do this. Plus you can adjust the hot side to adjust for lag. You could do the same with the turbo mani but a TBI mani flows better and cheap. The biggest downside I see is the 180 degree turn to come back forward.

Thought? Would it be a epic fail or work?

But the exhaust is at the back of the motor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxKXkQEewmc

the holset vgt would be a great idea 45 psi no problem

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiDAB2bB7t8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEfXLh49Hfk

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this is the one i like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnHGbN67PIM

Using a VGT does give some cool advantages. I think to start out I would just lock it but mount it so the actuator is easy accessible so down the road I could build something like that. Just need a car to try it on lol. I am picking up a turbo caravan soon. That would have no shortage of room.

Im a fabricator by trade so the fab side is easy for me. Im just worried how much drive pressure I would loose by plumbing the exhaust forward.

It would be a lot simpler to go forward from a stock manifold than a TBI. I am sorta tempted by these turbos but they are so heavy that kinda turns me off since I wanted to use a pair. Not sure the spool would make up for 50# on each turbo.

They are not light I agree. I got mine for free when dodge was having all the problems with soot making them stick. I honestly grabbed them thinking I would use one on a 3.0 someday.