If I get a combo drive from an ibook g4 would it work on my clamshell, I know its slotload, and I wolnt have the nice bezel....  would it work?  thanks

It should work fine. You could probably get an extra Clamshell bezel and cut a slot in it, cutting out the buttons, and such.

whats the minimum os I would have to have?  thanks

There shouldn't be any limit on your OS.

[censored][censored]. You can also get the model info from system profile.
Patchburn should take care of the drive if you don't have an OS new enough.

Oh man, opening up the Clamshells is so much fun.

I'm not gonna open up my clamshell untill I have the drive, I know that some g4 ibooks shipped with cd drives (the early ones, I think) and they shipped with 10.3 I know you can get some slotloads for dual usb ibook g3s, would one of those work also, I know they don't require a certan os or patchburn, which do u guys reccomend?  This iBook is kinda like my guinnie pig, I'm gonna ebay it when I'm done, I plan on buying a 466 graphite if this mod works out my blueberry

I installed a Powerbook G4 Ti Dvd slot drive into my iMac G3 berry-bubble two or three years ago. It works fine in that. I believe it is running 10.2.8 and I think I installed it when it was running 10.0 and it worked then but I'm not sure. Been awhile since I've used that computer. But my guess is that it will work fine, you might want to run a software update afterwards... it seems that I did that and it installed a driver but idr. Good luck.
Also as Protocol6v said "get an extra Clamshell bezel and cut a slot in it, cutting out the buttons, and such." I modded a piece of wood rather than cut my bezel, but you may be willing to sacrifice your bezel if it ends up working.

If your OS is older than the first Mac to ship with a given burner, then you are unlikely to get it running without an OS update or patchburn.
Virtually all drives will read discs under the standard drivers, its the burning which needs the right drivers. If those iBook G4 drives work on an earlier OS, then its because they were used in earlier PowerBooks. There will be a limit. What OS are you planning on using?

I'm planning on using os 10.3, This one is just my guiny pig, I'll ebay it when I'm done, I'm gonna get a line/graphite to keep for myself if it works out alright, I know that's what the first G4s shipped with

I hear that a 512MB ram stick wolnt make much of a difference vs a 256, is that true, I have 256 now, is it worth the $70? 

I also plan on painting the metal plate on the top to match the dye I'm going to use on the keyboard, I lost my mac screw driver, so as soon as I get the new one I ordered I'll post pics.