So, in case you didn't see what happened to my phone in my other post, I though I'll repeat it here.

Scenario... iPhone Crackup

I was going home from work and had to stop at a store to pick something up.  As I was getting out of the car, I put my iPhone(not even 2 months old) "into" my pocket.  Little did I know that "into" actually meant "missed completely".

** GASP **...  CLACK! Click clack clack click....

I pick up my new favorite toy and there is a massive CRACK across the digitizer...  and by that I mean spider-web.

So, now what to do?

1. Scream and curse:     CHECK
2. Slowly pick up and asses the damange:  Check(its actually still working... touch and all)
3. Note:  Always put on a screen protector.  I think that's what kept it functional.
4. Replace phone with a new one:  NOT GONNA HAPPEN with these costs
5. Repair?  YES

Now that its decided... where do I go?  Well, there are any number of sites selling the digitizer for the iPhone3G.  The place I chose is called PDAparts.com.  As an added benefit to PDAparts, you can get the case opener, adhesives(a MUST) , and the phillips screwdriver needed for disassembly.  Also, they have a really good disassembly video on their website(the one I posted below).

Since I used PDAparts take-apart video, I think its only fair to include it here as well.  Many Kudos to the people there, but I will cover some of the "nit and gritty" that they omitted.  I will confirm (from a fairly adept electronics repair peson... ) that they ain't kiddin' when they say this is a difficult repair. This took me OVER two hours of actual manual labor.... not counting the breaks to let my hands stop shaking.

My "GOTCHA's"

Case Opener:

The case opener tool is really good.... if you have an intact screen and average(or smaller) sized hands.  My screen was a very good spiderweb; therefore when it came time for the tool to do its work, it could find no real purchase.  Evenutally I dug out some of the shattered glass enough that I reverted to a Regular screw driver to pry open the case.  (time appox 45mins)

Home Button:

There is no home button with the digitizer.  The digitizer is JUST THE GLASS and PRESSURE SENSING cabling.  That's IT.  So be VERY carefuly after you have disassemebled the phone and removed the LCD from the digitizer.  To do just a digitizer ONLY replacement, you must also remove all of the existing digitizer from the assembly BY HAND.  This can be very tedious if you are like me and had a spider-web.  There is adhesive on the back of the glass(hence the recommended adhesives in the PDAParts kit), so you will have to remove it as well as the glass.  here's some of the progression of my fist disassembly and glass removal.

If you look closely at the first picture(taken by my lovely 4yr-old daughter), you'll see the digitizer flipped back towards me.  This is a rather important point.  I had attempted to use the case opener tool enough that I had chipped away a swath of my digitizer glass and was able to actually peel the digitizer off of the assembly.  This is when I resorted to the standard screw driver to assist in opening the case.

In the second picture, you'll see the phone disassembled, but notices the digitizer assembly.  There is still glass covering portions around the speaker and home button.  Also notice all the chips and shard of glass on my work rag.  Please do take note that there where pieces of glass flying around when a scrape or tool slipped along a path.  So, take proper precautions such as Eye Protection!

The final picuture is the digitizer assembly cleaned of class and adhesive.  DO TAKE NOTE of where those sensor and cables are from this picutre as you can easily damage them (I almost did several times) in your attempts to clean the glass.

And the thrid picture is why its imperative that you get the adhesives from PDAparts.com.  Otherwise, your digitizer will be just free to float around inside the iPhone....  NOT A GOOD IDEA! (45 mins)

Cable Routing:

When I first put down the digitizer glass, I was so thrilled that I'd finally got the damn thing taken apart and cleaned that I threw the adhesives on and set the digitizer down folded everything back together and was about to lock down my cables when I realized.....  1,2, and 3 cables are now in the 1,3,2 order!

*insert curses and yelling again*

So, I !!!CAREFULLY!!! peeled the new digitizer away from the assembly, re-routed the cables, and closed up the iPhone.  Here's what a cable looks like on the digitizer when you handle it roughly... like my original disassembly.  You'll need the full image to appreciate the small, but significant damage(which would render the digitizer useless).  Following the correction of my error, I reversed my teardown to reassemble the phone:

Final view:

Purty, ain't it?  But I have since invested in a "speck Toughskin" phone cover!