I feel your pain I to am working on a TAF. For me I always looked at it like lasagna laying. Honestly TAF is easy underneath cause you don't have a ground braiding stapled to the pf. I like to take the weight off the harness for a swap and remove and re soldier all the large mechs. And that also helps to make some room to work. I would definitely install the t-nuts first, then large mechs then harness, complete the bottom then re install everything up top. Also I use a large piece of sturdy cardboard about the size of the pf to slip underneath the harness so everything generally stays in place while you slide it over to the new pf.

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I did a swap last year and documented it here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/taf-restoration%e2%80%94my-first-swap

I hope this is helpful.

Everyone seems to have their own way of doing things, but this is pretty much it. All I can say is, take lots and lots of pics as you take things off. When it's time to put it back on the new playfield, work backwards with your pics. You'll screw something up. Everyone does.

TAF has pros and cons. The pros....the topside of the playfield is relatively simple. The cons....the bottom side is more of a bitch. There's a lot of stuff going on there.

If I understand your question, here is the sequence I’ve been doing:

1) t-nuts
2) underside mechs
3) harnesses
4) posts
5) 1st level topside parts
6) 2nd/3rd level topside

Depending on the game, you may see some blending of those steps as you see how things logically fit together. Hope that helps

Interesting. I prefer this order.

1) t-nuts
2) posts
3) 1st level topside parts
4) underside switch and lamp harnesses
5) underside coils and mechs
6) coil harness
7) 2nd/3rd level topside

You are the master, so I defer to your judgement. I’ll have to think on this. For me, I’ve done harnesses after mechs to make sure I have enough breathing room as I put the harnesses back in place, but it certainly makes sense to do lamps/switch harnesses first. It also makes sense to do posts earlier as there is drilling involved. I’m thinking my Type A made that decision for me (finish bottom, then do top). Still lots to learn!