Ha! I fixed it!
I decided to order a toolkit and an iSeasamo from iFixit, and they came shortly after. I had studied the repair pages for the iPod Classic breakdown before I attempted anything, and also made sure I had plenty of time to do the breakdown and repair without getting interrupted. As the repair guide said, getting the cover off was the hardest part, and the clips at the corner, especially the corner near the earphone jack, was the worst. As to the screen/display, when I had it open and all the ribbons loose, I looked everything over really good. I couldn't find any real issues, and no evidence that anything was broken. Getting the cover back on and the scroll wheel in place took some doing, but with patience and perseverance, it went back together, until I noticed some smudges on the inside of the glass. Well, Crap! after another attempt at re-attaching the front (after all screen and glass surfaces cleaned), I was on my way to finish closing it up. Before I snapped the back completely on, after all the ribbons in place, I plugged it in and synced it up. To my utter amazement, the display is back to normal. image is good and the backlighting works too. I am pleased that I didn't break anything in the process and that it actually went back together. I am so stoked that it works. Thanks for the tips they really helped. I'm not sure why it didn't work, but I'm glad its back to normal. can't wait to put the case back on and use it on my next exercise trip.