Dan

Are you sure you are looking at the correct guide? There is the older 17” MacBook Pro 17" Models A1151 A1212 A1229 and A1261 Optical Drive Replacement.

There are a few differences between the Core 2 Duo and the newer i5/i7 series. but the guide is close enough to get you through it.

Getting an RV AC converter is a lot cheaper and besides the power supply is a custom unit so you would need to have the chops to design the circuit get it made into the needed encapsulation so it would fit inside. If you won the PowerBall then you would have the needed bucks to get it done! ;-}

It’s soldered

The plastic dome covers the contacts so you can’t really blow air into the gap. The covers are glued down to the base 360 degrees.

@jeffsu - Can you post pics of the other side of the dome contact plate or tell us if the new ones are gold plated. Thanks!

I guess we’ll need to wait another year before we get the old reliable keyboards back! So sad …

Great research guys!

Only on iFixit would you get this level of detail!

Apple sold the 21’5 models in three configs HDD only (no SSD connecter), SSD only or a Fusion drive which has both HDD & SSD (has SSD connector).

Not in the 21.5” models only the 27”

IFIXIT did two articles on the flex cable issue in the 2016/17 with a follow up on the 2018 model which has a slightly improved design.

● The design flaw behind the MacBook Pro's "stage light" Effect

● Apples 2018 McBook Pro's Attept to Solve Flexgate, Without Admitting It Exits

Sadly you can’t fix this or offer additional structure without effecting how it works. Apple needs to fix this just like the keyboard issues which effect both the MacBook & MacBook Pro models which use the Butterfly design. Basically, the designs where over reaching the limits of the physics and use.