After reading these posts I decided to just rotate my turbo (IHI) 180 degrees so the ports were on the passenger side. I think (Havent test fit it yet) that the setup will just clear the compressor in this case. The only problem is that the outlet of the turbo now sits directly underneath the manifold. If the setup clears the compressor I may just rotate the turbo housing 90 degrees to clear the manifold. What problems all this may cause with hooking up my downpipe have yet to be seen as well... Has anyone tried this?

 

i didn't modify the turbo or manifold with the exception of porting. the plate i made allowed me to rotate. i just cut the plates and welded them together in the fashion that i needed to have it in a rotated position. i just drilled them and tapped/threaded the holes in the plates to install my studs. to make my studs i bought automotive grade bolts/nuts and hacked the heads off to make studs.

i couldn't mount my turbo with the compressor on the passenger side because it hit the block and wouldn't allow me to mount it to my manifold. if your manifold/turbo combination will allow you to do that then you could do that, but the downpipe is quite a tight squeeze to clear the ac compressor and it would be a good idea to wrap it to shield the compressor from excessive heat.

basically you just need to install the manifold and try different mounting positions of your turbo and try to visualize how everything is going to fit.