I'm trying to do this without the VGA mod, half because of my bad soldering skills and half because I kind of like the bigger type from the lower resolution.

I pulled out the 1400, and instantly remembered why I hadn't tried it before: no powerbook SCSI cable. I did boot up the powerbook with the OS 8.1 CD, worked fine. So I think the image is fine. You're right, though, that I should do something where I pull out the HD and load it up from another computer. At work there is a IIci that should do the job. I'll try it tomorrow.