Keyboard replacement same for early & late 2011 unibody MacBook Pro?

So it IS true, despite conflicting (weigh-ins), that the Keyboard is NOT replaceable without the entire case assembly .... ? :-(

One of the Worst realities, flushing money because I chose the wrong (‘expert’), and bought Just a Keyboard ....

No! You can replace the keyboard alone! It's just not worth it when IFIXIT sells the uppercase at $300. You can find them for around $70 new. Then you would still need to pull the uppercase, then take the backlight assembly off and unscrew a ton of screws to free the keyboard and don't forget Apple uses a screw sealer so these screws tend not to come out easily! Drill out any failures then put in the new keyboard and reassemble. I think its just easier and cheaper time-wise to replace the full uppercase. In my case as I do it as a living so it offers a better result for my customer.

I've seen systems come in to me which are really messed up as the person who did the job before couldn't get the screws out. I should point out the newer retina series have some rivets instead of screws so its even a harder keyboard to replace and the newest touch bar model is fully riveted they all use a metal vs a plastic which would have been better material.