The transplant was successful. Although I almost didn't survive it. The first time I tried to power it up my heart skipped a beat when nothing happened. After a few attempts I realized it was one because the processor was getting hot. I just had no lcd. I eventually had to replace the lcd cable with the old one and it worked. I don't know if I damaged the cable or if it was just not plugged in correctly. I should have payed closer attention to the teardown vids. There is a clip on the small ribbon cables that I did not notice so I was just pulling the cables out. Much easier when I discovered the clips.

So I had a 16gig Nexus 7 that took a short dive to the driveway and broke the screen. Still works except for the screen. I'm now looking to replace. I was thinking that if I buy a 8gig version I may be able to swap the memory from my broken one. I haven't had it apart yet to see how hard this would be but thought I would ask the question to the clever hackers of the internet. Any thoughts?