If anything, wouldn't glass provide greater clarity? Also, the inner hinges are fairly durable, so don't worry about the risk of breaking the original ones. Just use those and everything else is included in the eBay listing.
New shells are always worth it compared to the originals in my opinion.
Here is a picture of mine:
I already bought AGS 001, so it's alright. Is the shell of AGS 001 and AGS 101 the same? Is the motherboard region locked (I have a GBA 101 from Taiwan, does that mean I can't play US games?)When I fixed up an AGS-001 in the past, I think I just peeled off the the plastic lens from the front-light's light spreader (AGS 101 doesn't have this) and put the new one in place. Make sure you don't get fingerprints on the light spreader though, as you can't get them out without damaging it. Nonetheless, you're best bet is to find a badly beat up AGS 101 for cheap and just swap the shell on it. My SP looked like it was dropped over 100 times before I swapped the shell. I ended up buying 2 separate shells and mixing them together for the color scheme.
What sticky foam? Oh I think my battery is ruined but the light indicator turns red to green and vice versa on random times. It also doesn't charge right, from what I remember (10 years ago or so) orange light indicates that it's charging and green light indicates that its full.You know, it's been a long time since I've replaced the shell. I'd becareful of the sticky foam around the screen. I'm not sure if you can order that one piece. I had to reuse it.
I had the same problem, its the hinges you didnt put them in correctly.Im currently change the top half of the gba but it feels like it's wrong. The "flip"? of the gba doesn't work properly. Like there's a missing piece. Is there something im doing wrong?