Replacing the top case/keyboard/trackpad of macbook pro

Il Mio Problema

My son spilled a glass of water on my wife's 2011 early macbook pro. The keyboard and trackpad no longer behaved properly

La Mia Riparazione

The repair took a long time. It was difficult. But in the end it was successful.

Il Mio Consiglio

Take your time. It is a good idea to have an egg carton or ice tray (or two) to keep screws sorted in the order of the repair step. The hardest part I think was step 17 replacing the keyboard ribbon cable when I was re-assembling everything. What I wound up doing was using tape to grab the ribbon cable to pull it so it would seat properly. Make sure all cables attached to the logic board are available after re-seating the logic board. I had twisted the track pad cable, buried the subwoofer connector, as well as the optical drive. Got them all sorted out eventually.