so on my late model 2.0L, I have the short stub pipes that connect to the HE's right...

what i propose is this:
reverse those two stub pipes so that they face the rear of the car instead of the front, and chop the ends off the 2.0L pipes for the flanges. this would allow me to weld whatever muffler to the chopped flanges and mate them up to the stub pipes.
of course some fabbing would have to be done on the muffler bracket end but would this work?

are those pipes "reversible"?

just brainstorming...

feel free to call me an idiot

Yes it works. You have to swap them side-to-side because of the angles on the tabs where they bolt up. Note that one is a little longer than the other so you'll need to measure before you make the tail pipes.

Some people have run dual exhaust this way, but that would mean no scavenging from side to side.

Backdating with SSIs or upgrading to headers of any kind would be better. But, I still contend that cleaning up the spaghetti the way you're talking is better than the stock late-model configuration.

Interesting idea... I'd like to see the results...

I had always thought of using the late 2.0 exhaust and mounting two tiny turbos -- one on each side.

That'd be interesting... doubt it would run smooth though.