I now have a CF iPod, and it is awesome.  Fast, low power consumption and it cost me a cool 3 bucks for the adapter and a cf card I had laying around.  Until I can get a larger card it is stuck at 4GB, but to be honest, that is fine for now.  Surprisingly there was nothing wrong with the abused 5 year old hard drive, but it was surely coming soon.  Also, my brother has a toasted drive (I think) in his, so this was a proof of concept.  There are a few tutorials online, but if someone needs one I will tear in and make one.