2 Year Old Machine.. Repair Advice

[thatshellacool]

I have a 2 year old Macbook Pro 15" (A1260... Early '08 model before the Unibody model was released).

About 3 months ago, a liquid spill left the "F7/Previous Track" button no longer functioning, as well as half of the keyboard backlight.

A month ago my trackpad button completely stopped working sporadically... taking the battery out and lightly flexing the metal underneath the button would solve the problem, but only for hours or days.

Two nights ago it stopped responding completely even after taking the usual steps. Messed with it a while and somehow worked the button over the aluminum casing. Managed to work it back down but not without creasing/bending the aluminum surrounding the button. Sorta works again, but barely and still sporadically.

So as it stands I need to replace the keyboard, trackpad, and upper case. Having Apple do it is out of the question... Even if they can fix it for less than the computer is worth, I'd still be raped, and I have the technical know how to do it myself. I'm hesitant to buy used because Aluminum isn't the most rigid material out there and depending on the machine it was on before mine, could be warped and give me trouble getting it on my machine. There's no way in hell I can afford to pay for all three parts brand new right now (senior in college... aka very poor).

So how the heck should I go about fixing this?! The rest of the computer still works flawlessly.

Thanks

 

[Eidorian]

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/...-A1226-and-A1260-Upper-Case-Replacement/662/1

There are harder repairs than an upper case.

 

[thatshellacool]

Thanks... I did read that and iFixit was actually the first place I went. Should have mentioned that. To clarify the part that I'm most concerned with is finding the parts.. The price of an uppercase w/ trackpad on iFixit is $299 USD and that's without a keyboard. Keyboard is $85... almost $400 in parts and probably more than that with shipping/applicable taxes.

Ebay has people selling the uppercase including keyboard for less than $200 used, which is definitely reasonable to me considering I paid $2,000 for the machine and the resale value is high, but I'm not sure if buying used would be smart given my concerns stated above.

I guess I'm asking for feedback as to whether I should be worried about purchasing it used or not, as well as any suggestions as to how I can get this fixed without breaking the bank (ways to repair the keyboard backlight and key without replacing the whole thing, somewhere I can find a marketplace for refurbed/guaranteed-used parts, etc.).