Well, heres the deal. I THINK I may have conquered this animal. Yesterday I replaced the inlet, cleaned the MAF, checked all the up pipe/down pipe connections, checked plug gaps one more time (decided not to put the one step colder plugs in until I found the problem...didnt want introduce another potential contributor), and replaced all fluids with Royal Purple (not that it had anything to do with my problem).

I did a pressure test. It held 20 lbs for 30 minutes. I never thought that would happen but it did. I'll try and post pics of the stock inlet. When my moron mechanic put it back on he folded the bottom where it connects to the turbo under and then clamped down on it. By the time I got to it, it was basically shredded on the bottom.

After the test I cleared the code and took it for a 15 minute test ride under as many different driving conditions as I could put it thru. The code never came back and it ran much, much better. Throttle response was greatly improved and boost didnt tail off hardly at all. I was extremely happy. I'm still a little worried the CEL will come back but this is as best its ran in a long time. No hesitations at constant speeds/deceleration and almost no lag at all.

So, we'll see what happens. Lately the CEL would come back on within 5 minutes of clearing the code so if nothing else its an improvement. Thanks everyone for your input, I appreciate it.