"S&Ws are one of those things where if you don't do things just right (and that includes specific techniques) you will damage the gun."
There are few things in life that are completely proof against hamfistedness.
In reality, though, S&Ws are FAR more accommodating to being mucked with by your average home gunsmith than Colts of the same vintage.
The only true special procedure needed is on removing the sideplate by using a wooden block to strike the flats of the grip frame.
Otherwise, it's not a big deal.
I was completely self taught when I started working on S&Ws. The only thing I had was an exploded view from American Rifleman and a couple of tools.
If this is an earlier model S&W, the internals are different from later models, in some ways significantly so, and parts are generally very difficult to replace if broken or lost.
Still, removing the side plate while leaving the internals in place is an excellent way to assess just how much dried up crap there is in the mechanism and do a pretty good job of flushing it out.