No, you're absolutely right, room is going to be an issue. This is more with what I was thinking; type 26 ic, (15x6.5x6), long but not very wide mounted against the firewall and set low, right above the rear engine mount, and a heat exchanger similar to type 100, (24x12x1) but smaller, maybe 20x10x1, mounted on the hood beneath the scoop opening which measures around 18x6. The 1" thickness would be great but have yet to find one around that size. There might be room to mount a thin fan to the underside of the heat exchanger and still clear everything below.
A smaller exchanger and IC 'might' work and the smaller size would be nice but expected numbers for my build, once I get the drive to return working on her, should be in the solid 500+ range. I think that will require the larger rated cores.
... and yes, it would be nice to have the better throttle response loosing those 8' of IC plumbing should provide.
Just thinking out-loud, YMMV.