Is there a way to somehow 'fix' or use parts, like a hard drive to a broken ipod?

I just got a 'new' free 'broken' ipod from a friend, where it won't charge, and the screen is broken. Plus right now it has a dead battery. So I'm just wondering if there's a way to hardwire the ipod to my computer to view the folders and such. This is my first ipod (lame right?) so I only know how to work the ipod, nothing else really. I just wanted to know if I can make the ipod useful, since an 80GB hard drive could be useful or something. Please help, or tell me anything really. Thanks!