Anyone installed their own hard drive on a Powerbook?

So I have an older G4 powerbook--12", 867 Mhz (not the standard for many upgrade parts, etc.)...aluminum, not titanium. After going to Tekserve here in NYC, 'the Mac specialists', I determined I'd be better off simply buying a new computer, as they informed me that in order to install a new HD, they'd have to replace some of the body paneling due to its having been bumped and dented by a couple of stupid drops. They quoted me a price of parts and labor of upwards of $900, which just seemed like a bad deal, considering for a few hundred dollars more, I could buy myself an iMac with the new processor, which I did.

Anyway, I recently found a site that gave some instructions on doing your own HD install, and found the Hitachi Travelstars selling for $100. Figured for that price, I may as well try and do it myself. It doesn't look that hard, actually. I'm just wondering if anyone here has actually done such a thing, and if so, if there is anything I might think about before dismantling my computer. The HD is due to arrive via UPS tomorrow, so I haven't yet touched my computer, but I am a little bit concerned that I won't get that paneling back on.

Also, is there an easy way to test the HD before installing it into the notebook, say, via my iMac?

I have read several of the computer geekery posts on here, so I know some of you out there are plenty versed in these subjects. I'm generally decent with tech. stuff, though more of a hacker with some basic computer science classes from college in my background, but I'm by no means a practicing engineer. Any input is def. appreciated.

Great. Thanks for the info and the heads-ups. I already have a mini-torx head screwdriver for working on cell phones, and a hex wrench, so I'll just go get myself a phillips head at Radio Shack. I'm going to be really happy if I can get this thing up and running for as little as I paid.

Hey TL, I got the hard drive and installed it within about 1/2 an hour- an hour. Works great, and the instructions I followed were perfect. If you want the link/info, let me know and I'll post them. I was quoted 900 bucks to do this, because the computer place told me they'd have to replace the panel parts on the PB that were dented, but this was a totally bogus claim. The whole bottom panel could probably use replacing, but there was no problem getting the new hard drive in. Anyway, after the thing sitting around my apartment useless for the past 6 months, I'm pretty happy I now have it working again. I'm thinking about spending the money to bump up the RAM and/or upgrade the CPU to 1.4 GHz. I figure that'd keep it useful as my working laptop for at least another year, probably more, esp. since I upgraded to an iMac when they told me the cost of this replacement. One problem I had was re-installing Tiger, which seemed to cause a few problems, mainly, I think, with the power management. I had to re-calibrate, but since I did that, there doesn't seem to be a problem. Now, though, it seems my Airport software is out of date, and I'm not picking up my usual shared network in my apartment. This is unfortunate, because in order to update to the latest version of Tiger (and the Airport software), I need an Internet connection...Catch 22 .