Good to see a few more folks embarking on this journey - it's way more fun than diagnosing broken traces and vias and soldering in bodge wires I can tell you that much!
Some tips I would give on sequence of populating components as follows. Others please chip in if you have better/alternate advice. This is just what worked for me. Note that I was using a 10x electronics assembly microscope which I'd say was invaluable but perhaps you could manage with younger eyes and/or a decent bench magnifier.
Firstly, populate the backside first if not done during PCB manufacture. At this stage the topside is completely flat and will sit nice and stable on your workbench. I'd recommend an anti-static soft rubber mat but keep it clean to avoid any debris scratching the solder mask.
From here on the general principle is start low and work up, away from the PCB, and prefer SMD components which require sideways access for soldering (ie. PLCC chips) over other devices which can be soldered easily from directly above. Just keep thinking, if I install "this" component, which other components does that make difficult to access?
On the backside I did all the resistors first, starting from the lowest resistance and working up through each value. I think that's quicker than finding R1 then looking up to see what value it is then getting that component out and fitting it before going on to R2. There is a certain pattern to the numbering sequence on the silkscreen with a few exceptions so it's quite easy to do one resistance value at a time. It also minimises the chance of getting component values mixed up which is especially important with capacitors since they often aren't marked up the same as resistors.
After that I repeated the process with capacitors but only on the backside for now. I then harvested and fitted the SMD inductors from my donor board, taking care to keep track of which is which by sticking them to a piece of tape marked with L8, L9.... L22. I didn't fit the through hole L1 or L2 at this stage. Lastly I fitted the SMD diodes D4-D19.
On the topside I started with the PLCC chips but you could also have started with the likes of the small SMD semiconductors like D1, D2, Q1, Q2, Q3, F1, F2, F3 etc. If harvesting the PLCC chips from a donor, take care to remove them with minimum heat and take ESD static precautions. Also, clean them thoroughly and remove any old solder from the pins and make sure all the pins are nice and straight and the chip sits flat without rocking on a raised pin. I found a little soft fibre pencil was good for cleaning the pins along with IPA.
When fitting the PLCC chips, alignment is really important so take time to get it right before soldering the first pin. Use a good gel flux and good quality solder wire. You might choose to solder pin by pin like me or drag solder but that's up to you. If doing it pin by pin then try to use a very fine tip so that you can heat the PAD first and then feed in the solder such that it bridges to the pin naturally. If you heat the pin first or simultaneously the solder will tend to stick to the pin and you won't be able to get it to drop down to the pad. If you do catch the pin first and have this problem then just use wick to remove the excess solder, apply more flux and try again. I tended to solder bottom right pin first, then a diagonally opposite pin then recheck alignment before running round the whole chip.
After the PLCCs I did the various SOIC chips and resistor packs and all other SMD components including tantalum caps before turning attention to the through hole components. Again I tried to tackle the lower components first such as IC sockets (turned pin style) before the crystals, axial caps, S1, S2, L1, L2, RP1, RP2, RP3. The last things to go in were J5, J8, J12, battery holder and the SIMM sockets. I'm waiting on the serial, ADB and DB-25 and DB-19 connectors arriving as well as the PDC socket so will fit these soon. I also need to harvest the metal rear support bracket from the donor board and will fit that too.
Lastly, try to clean flux off components as you go rather than waiting until the end. I don't mean do this for every SMD resistor, you can do those every 10 mins or so of assembly, but for other, larger components it's easier to clean them sooner rather than wait until later. It also provides a good opportunity to inspect the soldering and do any rework before moving on and potentially obstructing the rework with other components.
That's all for now other than to say to treat this as a marathon not a sprint and walk away regularly to eat, exercise, sleep and spend time with family. It's very unlikely you'll finish this in one day so pace yourself and avoid silly mistakes. I started mine on Jan 1st and got it booting on Jan 6th albeit some of that time was waiting on parts. I didn't keep track of time spent but it must have been upwards of 15 hours although a lot of that (~60%) was harvesting donor parts and cleaning them up.
Enjoy!