Answers.Body: <p>If your goal is to build all the sets according to the instructions, then I would suggest a third option: start separating the chunks that obviously belong to a set together - for each set, thus forming 80+ groups. After you're done with that, all the leftover individual pieces and unidentifiable fragments would be treated as a common pool, from which pieces can be taken out to complete sets where the matching chunks have gaps between them. The instructions should be helpful for identifying which chunk belongs to which set and at what position in the original set, and also for verifying what single pieces are needed to bind the chunks together.</p>
  <p>Otherwise, to encourage exploration and creative building, you could tear down everything, pour all the pieces together and have fun browsing for the one 2x2 pink brick you want to have now, while finding various other pieces that give inspiration for new models or modifications.</p>
  
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Answers.Text: Thanks. I figured there's no silver bullet. I think the kids want to make some sets according to instructions and others not so much.
Answers.UserDisplayName: sheila
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Answers.Text: I followed this approach when I got a big haul of Lego once. We were four adults and it took us about a week to finish. The big chunks were easy. All the individual bricks consumed most of the time which we did by looking in the piece count in each manual. Afterwards all sets were in separate bags.
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Answers.Body: <p>I totally agree with you that counting parts in an assembly is fraught with error.</p>
  <p>For a small set I would definitely disassemble it and then compare what you've got to the part list and start looking for the missing pieces.  Once you have all of the parts you can work your way back through the instructions.</p>
  <p>I have some larger sets that need to be repaired.  I've had them sitting on the shelf for years waiting for the motivation to fix them up.  It sounds like I need to accept my own advice and part them out and rebuild them from the instructions.</p>
  
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Body: <p>I have many LEGO pieces in about 8 under-the-bed storage boxes. They are from 80+ sets (I have all the instructions but not the boxes) that are my kids (17, 11). They are interested in re-building them so I'm helping. We will start with an easy set, the 21170 The Pig House. I read all about sorting and finding pieces. My question is: We have part of the big pig's head and various chunks of the pink building for this set. It isn't easy to count pieces in chunks. Would it be easier to disassemble everything, count/sort pieces, and then assemble them from scratch? We have various sets in this condition. They are in the partially assembled state, generally not assembled enough to fix up easily, and would take work to take apart completely.</p>
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Tags: <building><sets><disassembly>
Title: Best way to rebuild partially built sets
UserDisplayName: sheila
ThreadText: # Best way to rebuild partially built sets
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-07-25)
  
  I have many LEGO pieces in about 8 under-the-bed storage boxes. They are from 80+ sets (I have all the instructions but not the boxes) that are my kids (17, 11). They are interested in re-building them so I'm helping. We will start with an easy set, the 21170 The Pig House. I read all about sorting and finding pieces. My question is: We have part of the big pig's head and various chunks of the pink building for this set. It isn't easy to count pieces in chunks. Would it be easier to disassemble everything, count/sort pieces, and then assemble them from scratch? We have various sets in this condition. They are in the partially assembled state, generally not assembled enough to fix up easily, and would take work to take apart completely.
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bogulLUr.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bogulLUr.png)
  
  **Tags:** building, sets, disassembly
  
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  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-07-25. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  If your goal is to build all the sets according to the instructions, then I would suggest a third option: start separating the chunks that obviously belong to a set together - for each set, thus forming 80+ groups. After you're done with that, all the leftover individual pieces and unidentifiable fragments would be treated as a common pool, from which pieces can be taken out to complete sets where the matching chunks have gaps between them. The instructions should be helpful for identifying which chunk belongs to which set and at what position in the original set, and also for verifying what single pieces are needed to bind the chunks together.
  
  Otherwise, to encourage exploration and creative building, you could tear down everything, pour all the pieces together and have fun browsing for the one 2x2 pink brick you want to have now, while finding various other pieces that give inspiration for new models or modifications.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thanks. I figured there's no silver bullet. I think the kids want to make some sets according to instructions and others not so much.  
  > **username_2**: I followed this approach when I got a big haul of Lego once. We were four adults and it took us about a week to finish. The big chunks were easy. All the individual bricks consumed most of the time which we did by looking in the piece count in each manual. Afterwards all sets were in separate bags.  
  
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  ### Answer by username_3 on 2024-07-26. Score: 0
  
  I totally agree with you that counting parts in an assembly is fraught with error.
  
  For a small set I would definitely disassemble it and then compare what you've got to the part list and start looking for the missing pieces. Once you have all of the parts you can work your way back through the instructions.
  
  I have some larger sets that need to be repaired. I've had them sitting on the shelf for years waiting for the motivation to fix them up. It sounds like I need to accept my own advice and part them out and rebuild them from the instructions.
  
  
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