Hi notch62,
the 914 2.0 or sideshifter gearbox is the one that is more complicated to converse for Beetle installation. Besides the nose cone and the long shift rod you also have to change the insides shift rods to the one from the 914 1.7 or to 901-rods.
Installing the sideshifetr into the Beetle as it is is no good idea. The shift mechanism is very low and very much to the side, where the arms of the floorpan are. You would loose a lot of ground clearance on one hand, on the other hand you would have to find a way to get the shift rod there, where it is needed at the sideshifter gearbox - far away from the middle of the tunnel.
I mainly use 914-gearboxes for my conversions because they have the more interesting gear ratios compared with to 901-trannys. But I always make a full conversion with my parts. Installation is then really easy, stabile and it fits perfectly.
If you are interested please have a look on my site
www.bugat5speed.de.
See under Angebot/Umbauteile Porsche-Getriebe. There you find the conversion parts.
Cheers Martin