I had the same problem, schoell. But I decided to just go ahead and remove the manifold. Its a PITA to do the first time, but once you get the fuel lines and harness unbolted from underneath (and making sure you don't put them back with you reinstall), future manifold removals are easy. It makes it real easy to route stuff if you have the capability of easily removing the manifold

 

yep, when the TGV deletes were done Mike at S&R left the harness unattached and rearranged a few wires so he said he could probably pull the intake manifold off in like 20 minutes now. Once its done the first time it makes all future times easier.

 

FWIW i installed a silicon inlet a couple weeks ago. It was a bitch, let's start there.. I'm sure you know that by now. BUT i did do it w/o removing intake manifold, on a stock td04 2002 wrx. It has the same clearance issue as what is illustrated above, right before the turbo.

This is how I did it. I had my dad help me wedge it on. I'd work the back of the turbo, he took a wooden mallet handle and shoved it down around the turbo and we kept wedging it until it eventually fit. We also rotated using the wooden handle back and forth, i'd shove it into the silicon hose from the front of the car towards the back, with the handle on the front curved part nearest your power steering connection there. It still isn't perfectly square but it is seated well and does not loose vac. There are major sound and spool gains to be had, so keep that in mind and DONT GIVE UP!

Use rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) when trying to wedge it on, to make the silicon slippery. Don't worry about getting small amounts in the turbo, it will dry up. If you puddle it in there, wait a while (at least an hour) before starting it just to be safe.

Keep trying, it can be done. If you get flustered, take a break and come back to try again, that usually helps. Also, crank up some slipknot for motivation !

 

you make baby jesus cry

 

this would just give me a headache...i was blastin lynyrd skynyrd though puttin on my dp tonight

 

its all about that AC/DC son... I was blasting it at the suby challenge my first two runs and those were the only clean runs I had lol.

 

The turbo inlet is a PITA but it can be done. Just keep trying.