In case anyone is interested, I just finished my next mod to the LCD4Bit code. I really enjoyed the great success I had after modifying in the first time to support my 4x40 display but realized the LCD screen took up too many pins. So I set off to combine my modified LCD4Bit-4x40 library with ahoeben's LCD3WireLibrary.
I still have a lot of work to do but am happy to report I got everything working great. For further info, I have it up on my blog at the moment. Let me know if its good enough to through up in the playground.
http://www.tekcrack.com/arduino-purdy-lcd-74hc595n-shift-register.html
Oh, I used an NXP 74HC595N shift register, Purdy AND791GST-LED LCD, and the Arduino Diecimila to pull it all off. Hope the modded library is helpful.