That was a great video display back in the day. About 6-8 hours tweaking on it, it could have a stunning picture.

That was 13 years ago! Just because they say it's working... doesn't mean it's 'working'.
Even if it has seen very little use over the years and has low hours on the CRTs, the caking of the cooling fluid is real and most likely the picture is very washed out right now. With average use, there's no way the picture is anything but a washed out, rainbow of convergence, mess!
Add to the fact, DHCP issues you might run into trying to get modern components to hookup to it.

Toss it! It's seen it's day, need to move on. It's not in anyway shape or form worth it.

They can get a 55" Sceptre TV from Walmart for $350. It's a POS but it still will have a better picture than that EOL Hitachi now. Plus you can hook stuff up to it without problems. Much easier to move around and takes up less space.
Few dollars more at $499, they can get a 55" LG.