The fix...Long and hard road...
1) Tried booting again from the original discs...no luck, spinning wheel the whole time.
2) tried running disc utility by booting with the d key pressed...it would stop halfway and stall
3) I then booted from my PowerBook, using the MacBook as a FireWire Drive, scraped libraries I wanted to keep, and dumped them onto my external drive.
4) I proceeded to reformat the drive through a retail OS X Tiger, using my PowerBook. I then tried installing the original system disc from the MacBook...Still a no go.
5) I tried installing the OS through the PowerBook, which worked....however when I tried to boot from the MacBook...Stgill the same issue. It would not startup and I would get the folder and question mark icon.
6) Again, with the MacBook, I used the system disc, and reformated the drive a second time.
7) I tried installation AGAIN, after running Apple"s hardware test which detectd no issue. ( I ran the extended test which took 1.5 hour), after I made sure the RAM and hard drive were properly connected.
7) I reinstalled through the MacBook, using original system discs, and oddly enough, it worked.
I am now installing additional software I had (Office 2004, Antidote, etc, as well as Music, photos and files...)
I am not sure what worked and what not, but it saved me a drive
Thanks to all...