To take off the glass, do we do it similarly to the 4th gen nano, where you just push it towards the clickwheel a bit to loosen the top first? or is a different method better here?

wow, that is small for these. the machinery gets bigger, the screws get smaller.

looks sorta similar to taking apart an iPod touch, just a lot bigger.. that about right, or are the clips somehow fundamentally different than the Touch's?

Citaat van mikeseptak:

If you bought a new front panel there is a rubber seal around it so dont worry about ripping it up to open your iPod

sometimes if you buy a new front it doesn't come with the front bezel, so make sure it does before you rip the old one up. otherwise you can get a new front bezel from ebay.

Careful not to use a (metal) spudger too hard, or it's really easy to bust the LCD screen with the pressure.

This is often a good fix if the iPod is giving you a sad face-- it might not be the hard drive, just the hard drive connector!

Remember to fold the backplate up the correct direction, otherwise you might break this cable.

I would suggest prying with a tool on one of the lips that holds the front place on, but do NOT pry on one near the LCD screen or you may damage the screen. Also, don't forget there is an extra small latch on the top of the LCD that has to be loosened too.

If your headphone jack isn't working, note that it is possible to replace just the headphone jack here:

There are just 4 soldering points that need to be loosened, and then you can put on the new one.

Follow this picture exactly, inserting the tool in the dock port to pry off the bottom plastic piece-- if you pry on the edges you may bend or break this plastic piece.