Hey Magius, if you put a shroud around the thing, you're only going to increase the heat since the turbo won't be getting any air flow over it. Also, since the turbo is mounted so far back, it shouldn't heat up much more than the muffler it replaces. The only time you need to worry about water cracking the turbo housing is when the turbo is mounted in the conventional way just off the headers. Even then, a little rain water shouldn't affect one. Now, if you drive full throttle for a few miles and do a nose dive into a frozen lake or something, you will probably crack the housing to pieces in a conventional setup, but by then you've got bigger things to worry about.

Also, concerning the cooling effect of the long pipe, it shouldn't be that big of a deal anyway. Most people are only going to run 6 or 7 PSI anyway which doesn't generate a great deal of heat. Also, since the turbo shouldn't be heating up as much as one mounted closer to the engine, the compressor won't be placing as much heat into the air either. If I'm wrong here, someone please correct me.

 

while a shroud will prevent airflow around it, its still not going to get as hot as a manifold mounted turbo so I'm not at all worried about that part. I feel I know enough about the properties of metals to have a reason for concern, but others may not feel that way and thats fine. It may work absolutely fine for years to come without a shield, but I prefer the piece of mind I will get for it. Plus a nicely designed shield may prevent some damage if I ever scrape the turbo on the ground due to someones 60* driveway (I do it with my tailpipes already around here).

My general feelings on the kit itself: Most people I have talked to about it say its not the most efficient way to go due to the wasted exhaust energy over that long a pipe, plus the extended intake pipe volume that may cause some lag...to counteract that you put in a smaller turbo so it spools better, but that restricts top end due to the smaller openings, so its a compromise. Most people have also indicated that if your talking about a cramped engine bay area, its probably not a bad idea to do it this way, and I personally have no interest in moving this, that, and the other thing around in my engine bay trying to make a turbo fit in an area that I can barely get my hands in properly. So for me the kit makes sense, but with a slight modification

 

I say go for it. You could use a larger turbo to help the top end, but use a lower AR and ceramic bearings to get the thing to spool up faster. From what I've seen of the kit, I don't think you'll have a problem with the turbo dragging the ground, they seem to mount it pretty high. Also, if you're still concerned with the heat of the turbo, have the housing coated and it should help aleviate alot more of the heat and keep water damage to a minimum. Coated headers don't crack when they get wet, so I wouldn't think a coated turbo housing would.