Exhuming an old project: Building the XT-IDE. Part 0

While cleaning up my closets (a task I make sure to accomplish at least once every ten years) I dug up two bare circuit boards from a project I undertook one or two years ago, and never completed: fitting my old XT computers with a decent and relatively new storage system.
Fitting IDE disks in such old computers can be a daunting task, if one decides to stick with then-contemporary technology the only decent solution would probably require finding an 8bit SCSI controller (with autobooting: hard!).
Lucky me, I did not want to limit myself to old tech and decided to check some homebrew options: the XT-IDE and XT-CF boards:

The two boards, both almost completed...

Both cards allow a modern IDE/CF
The XT-IDE got put aside because I couldn't source all the components cheaply and the XT-CF because I wasn't sure I could solder SMD components with such tiny legs!

XT-CF before soldering any components

 I eventually acquired some skills (and some more components!), so today I decided to give a shot in building both cards.

XT-CF with most components soldered

The two boards are now almost, but not fully, complete: XT-CF is missing the big CLPD in the middle (thanks to a fuckup Farnell made with my order) and the XT-IDE is missing three 74F573 logic ICs.

I ordered all the missing ICs, hopefully I'll be able to complete my boards in two weeks and test them in my XT computers.