I changed the top cover (screen side case) w/o removing the LCD. When I booted up, the screen was white from the time of p/u. Did I stress the ribbon cable too much, or could I have perm damage the screen?

My guess would be that the ribbon cable may have become detached from the LCD panel or the connector may not be fully seated on the motherboard. Full white screen means that power to the inverter is present and that the backlight is working. What's missing are the video signals to the panel.

Thank you again Ray, it turns out I inadvertently pulled the ribbon cable out the LCD. Probably for the best, didn't notice the little hinged piece around the rc was not in it's pivot place as well.
Hope I didn't insult you w/ the 380XD and memory trade, want to do something to make up for the time you spend mentoring me
I changed a screen assy out due to it being black on boot up, and coming on a short time later. The last time it happened it didn't come on until the desktop showed up, and that was after the screen had been adjusted. Does that sound like a power inverter going bad? And I assume the power inverter is the small board just under the screen.

Still trying to find a good primary TP. Want to use my (PATA) SSD so a T43 looks good, and I have a chance to do some minor labor for one w/ a bad GPU. May attempt to fix it via reflux, but don't know if the GPU is even good.
Second choice is an older T61 (not close to the 08/08 recommended) $90. Have yet to flash BIOS, but may try on a T23 first. Would have to buy a SATA SSD in the future.