Upgrading Early 2008 MBP to dual drive format and new OS. Should I install new drives or OS first?

Hi there. I have a Early 2008 15" MBP (4,1). Model A1260. 2.6GHz with a (almost full) 320gb 7200rpm hdd. Instead of spending thousands on a new MBP, I've decided to give my old one a makeover for a few hundred. Here's my situation:
My optical drive is dead. I'm wanting to set up a dual drive situation by adding a 240gb SSD as well as a new 750gb 7200rpm HDD for storage. I have a new optical drive with USB adapter on the way for external use.
I'm also currently running Leopord and want to upgrade my OS X. I have the install disk from Apple.
So my questions are as follows:
1. This is my first venture into performing surgery of any kind on the computer and I'm not a professional. In a broad sense, is this too much for my 'older' computer to handle?
2. If I'm good to go this big, should I upgrade my OS first and then switch out the drives or vice versa?
3. This computer seems to run hot. I feel like it always has and always thought it was because of the 2.6Ghz processor. I'm looking at the WD Black Scorpio 750gb 7200rpm. Is this going to run a lot hotter than my current 300gb 7200rpm HDD? Is there a better option? I usually use it with a USB fan base.
I also just wanted to openly ask for advice in general, based on my lack of experience. Is there something else I should know before diving in?
Thanks ahead of time for taking the time to help. I grately appreciate it! I'm really looking forward to this project!

Hi, what you plan to do will indeed revive your old Mac and make it ~~ fly ~~
Before you do anything else, Backup Backup Backup, at least to Time Machine and one cloned drive BEFORE you embark on any of the above.
kgroove1 wrote:
Hi there. I have a Early 2008 15" MBP (4,1). Model A1260. 2.6GHz with a (almost full) 320gb 7200rpm hdd. ..
So my questions are as follows:
1. This is my first venture into performing surgery of any kind on the computer and I'm not a professional. In a broad sense, is this too much for my 'older' computer to handle?
I have the same model (early 2008 Macbook Pro, A1260, 4,1) and currently run OS X Mavericks on my system with 2 x 1TB Seagate Hybrid hard drives in each bay. Now my computer SINGS.....¶¶•ªªº••¶¶¶
You say that your hard disk space is low and you will find that that is the biggest bottleneck for your system, so upgrading the hard disk space will make a huge diference. But you should also consider upgrading your RAM too. Some time ago I had upgraded my RAM from the factory installed 2 GB to the maximum 6GB allowed on this computer, and it has made a huge difference.
2. If I'm good to go this big, should I upgrade my OS first and then switch out the drives or vice versa?
This step depends on what kind of system you want to set-up. Do you want a clean install, with an out of the box kind of system so that you set up all applications and settings from scratch, or do you want to maintain your old settings and apps as they are, maintaining your users and settings.
The best way to do the latter is to get an external hard drive enclosure to hold the new drive, and after erasing it and formatting it, clone your old hard drive onto it, using Carbon Copy Cloner or Superduper. But for this you will need a SSD with at least the same amount of hard disk space as your current boot drive. After the cloning operation is done, you can swap the drive out from the main enclosure and remove the Optical drive to be replaced by an Optical Bay to hold the new large capacity storage hard disk.
3. This computer seems to run hot. I feel like it always has and always thought it was because of the 2.6Ghz processor. I'm looking at the WD Black Scorpio 750gb 7200rpm. Is this going to run a lot hotter than my current 300gb 7200rpm HDD? Is there a better option? I usually use it with a USB fan base.
In my opinion you do not need a 7200 RPM in your optical bay. A 5400 RPM drive will not be noticeably slower on your system, and the benefit of running this in terms of power usage and heat generation will outweigh the slower speed. Also, the Seagate Hybrid drives that I use have 8GB of Flash memory, to run frequently used apps much faster, and the speeds are excellent with lower heat generation.
To sum up, to lower your CPU temperatures, get more RAM, extra hard disk space for your boot drive and run a lower speed drive.
I also just wanted to openly ask for advice in general, based on my lack of experience. Is there something else I should know before diving in?
Since you are upgrading from Leopard to Mavericks, you will need to putchase a retail version of 10.6.3 (Snow Leopard) or above and install that before you can install Mavericks as a free upgrade. I would install that first, then upgrade to Mavericks on my old system, and only then clone the system afetr checking that it was working to my satisfaction.
BEFORE embarking on any of the above, Backup Backup Backup your current system, at least to Time Machine and one cloned drive.
I have done the 2 x 1TB upgrade just last week and for your reference below is a picture of my own set-up, with hardware links and links to iFixit instructions.
Comprehensive iFixit "How-to" instructiions can be found here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro_15%22_Core_2_Duo_Models_A1226_and_A1260
For my hardware, see the links below to get some ideas:
Optical Bay Enclosure:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A2VNUK4/ref=noref/278-2586001-6565828?ie=U TF8&psc=1&s=computers
SSD:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BQ8RGL6/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computer s
My HDD:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BHRWHNI/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i02?ie=UTF8 &psc=1
(The picture below is while I was testing the system before I replaced the original 750GB Toshiba with the Seagate 1TB)
Have fun

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Hopefully it will work OK.
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Upgrading Early 2008 MBP to dual drive format and new OS. Should I install new drives or OS first?

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