Hard-disk troubles, please help

Hey all
I am an experienced Mac user but have run into problems with my parents' iMac. It's a Core Duo model from May 2006 and has been super-reliable until the last few months or so. It is a 20" model, with 1Gb of RAM and the various other usuals for that model.
The problem is, often the iMac will not start up and freezes on the grey screen with the Apple logo. The CPU will emit a periodic sound (just your basic 'busy' sound it makes when it's processing as normal) but the OS will not load. Sometimes if it is left for 10-15 minutes it may load. Most times it will just sit on the grey screen with no signs of activity other than the hard-disk spinning down and then cycling up again. Needless to say this is infuriating for my parents and siblings.
I have re-installed Leopard maybe 5 or 6 times since our OS upgrade but the same problem used to occur in Tiger also. When I run disk utility to check the health of the HD, it comes up with problems. Notably, when I try to Verify or Repair the HD, it will not complete the process, bringing up error messages about 'Node failure's and broken 'Sibling Links'? (my apologies for the lack of distinct terminology at this time). I then have to erase and re-format the drive, re-install the OS, everything is fine for a few days and then the problem appears again. Is this an HD discrepancy? It seems that way to me, as if it is corrupting the data stored on it, in particular the important system files required to boot into the OS. The HD is a Western Digital model, the WD2500JS-40NGB2 model.
I have searched discussions but couldn't find any scenarios quite matching my own and would appreciate any help. Our Applecare has run out but I guess we would be open to the idea of replacing the drive if necessary
Thanks for any advice,
David

Backup all personal files to an external Firewire drive then do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount as shown in the DU left side list.
4. After the volumes mount quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed to reinstall OS X.
Upon completion of the installation your computer will automatically restart to the OS X Setup Assistant. Fill in the requisite information. When you get to the point of creating the new admin account be sure to use the exact same account information as before (same shortname and password.) You can then copy your personal files back from the backup you made to their original locations.

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