Hah! Well I am glad that I posted that or I would have never known I
was putting my Bug in danger. This is how the VW shop installed the
filter when the engine was rebuilt 5 or so years ago. I never thought
to question it.

Having bought an extra foot or so of rubber hose, I should be able to
move that filter today with some slicing, dicing, and re-clamping.
Thanks for the heads up.

-Ray