as promised, finally I've taken pics of the trimmed battery box.
here is the view from above. You can see the snorkle along side the box, and kinda how it goes underneath.
here is the same view with the lid removed, more clearly showing the snorkle and how it tucks under the trimmed area slightly.
Here is a shot of the battery box lid. It was late, so my trimming is kinda clumsy, but it shows the area that must be removed.
And here is a shot of the lower box and the snorkle wrapping under and around. The view is from the drivers door looking forward towards the headlight. You can see where the lower box was trimmed as well.
Again, sorry it took so long to get these shots.
I am thinking of getting ahold of a full battery box and tray from a vr6 or 1.8t to see if it will not interfere... I suppose you could also mod the battery box to move it further inboard by about 1/2" to provide clearance.