minimum memory footprint for core 3? other?

I have quite a few Pentium 166MHz, 8MB RAM systems that I want to use as network attached storage control units - supporting internal IDE-based disk storage and external USB- or FireWire-based external drives. Any thoughts about what version of Linux is best suited for these boxes? I need to have basic network support for the Intel Pro 100 LAN card, the PCI-based USB 2.0 and/or FireWire adapter (probably the VIA chipset which I have had lots of problems with), SMB, NFS, and probably CIFS file system support. I plan to run the boxes without a console (i.e., no keyboard, mouse, or monitor) so I don't need to waste space on any GUI support, etc. I really have to live with the 8MB limit for these boxes (at least 300 of them), so I will probably have to hack one of the older kernels, but it would be great to be able to use FC3. I have been testing with RH 7-9 and now with FC3 on our development machines. TIA, Max