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,...
I live in florida and have my share of Apple products. I don't work on anyone else's stuff but my own. I'm also not afraid to do surgery on them either.