Transferring keyboard backlight onto a replacement keyboard

(I apologize if this forum is the wrong place for this post. It didn't seem like an Owners Lounge issue. [Also, due to the dizzying variety of Vaio models and series and indecipherable numbering schemes, I couldn't really determine which lounge my model would best fit into.])

I have a VPC-F233fx/b. (16", black, 2D, with backlit US keyboard) It needs a new keyboard. (It's like these were intentionally designed to attract crumbs and spills. It's the least debris-tolerant laptop keyboard I've ever used.) I have performed several keyboard replacements on other brands of laptops over the years, but never for one with backlighting.

However, I have been unable to find the backlit version of this keyboard (the keyboard itself is model 9Z.N6CBF.A01 P/N: 148952741; I don't know the part number for the backlighting attachment). This is the type with three screwposts and a dog-leg-shaped (not straight or L-shaped) ribbon cable that connects to a horizontal (not vertical) slot on the motherboard.

Near as I can tell, this part has been used on a seemingly random array of F21, F22, F23, & F24 models, even though there are other models in each of those series that (judging by photos of replacement parts) use a completely incompatible keyboard (different post arrangement and ribbon cable orientation). It really surprises me that F233fx and F236fx, for example, would have different motherboards (as evidenced by difference in ribbon cable slot orientation on replacement keyboards), even though they were released at the same time and the cases are identical in both appearance and dimensions. Does anyone know where one might find a comprehensive list of which specific models use which motherboard? (Then again, I've learned from years of researching service parts that specs and compatibility information, even from an OEM, tend to be wrong about 20% of the time. So maybe all those dozens of vendors offering OEM keyboards for the F236fx, and the like, are just selling the wrong part.)

I can find the desired part number bare, without backlight or frame, from several vendors. If I got one of those, the lack of a frame shouldn't be much of an issue, since I assume I could pop it into the old frame without breaking it too badly. But my questions are about backlighting:

Am I probably correct in assuming that, since it has the same part number, the unlit version is made of the same translucent base material as the backlit version (so that the characters on the keys will glow when illuminated from behind)? (Photos of the underside show that the base board underneath holding the key mechanisms is made of the same clear material as my current keyboard. My concern, then, is whether the keys themselves transmit light as desired or are instead completely opaque. I have no use for backlighting if the key labels do not light up. [In fact, I find the glow outlining the keys to be rather annoying. So having that annoyance without the useful part would be pointless.] What are the chances that Sony would use the same part number and identical base plate and mechanics but then put opaque key caps on some and translucent ones on others?)

Is it possible to peel the backlighting sheet (and its aluminum shield backing) off the original keyboard and place it onto one of those non-backlit replacement keyboards? (I tried peeling back the corner a little bit just to confirm that the back of the current keyboard matches the photo of the back of the replacement. [It does.] However, it did not re-adhere very well, so I would also be interested in any ideas for adhesives I might need to use.) Has anyone done this? Is it easy to screw it up? How fragile is the backlight?

Similarly, if I do screw it up, would it be possible for me to try again by scavenging the backlight from a different model of keyboard (backlit replacements for the other models in the F2 series, such as the aforementioned F236, are available) and then just add the appropriate holes for the different screwpost arrangement and trim the edges to fit as needed? (This may be another big assumption, but I'm assuming that both parts share the same electrical and physical specs for the backlight connector.)

Alternatively, does anyone know if the backlight attachments are available separately? (Perhaps in a "one size fits all Vaio models" kit where you trim it to fit then peel off a backer and attach it like a self-adhesive decal.) However, I have not found anything like that.

 

Most VAIO laptops with back-lit keyboard have a sheet of light reflexive adhered to the back of keyboard.
You can remove it carefully to put to your new keyboard. However, if your new keyboard is non back-lit version, its keys would not pass the light through the letters.
You can also move all light up keys from old keyboard to new keyboard, but make sue the hinges are the same.
Otherwise, you know what to do.

 

Several months ago I replaced a South American keyboard with a US keyboard and it took a while to find a keyboard with the correct ribbon cable configuration which included being backlit capable. You can swap the back light material, but be gentle when removing it..... My swap was made more difficult since the key configuration is different between the NA USA and the SA keyboard. I had to remove the keyboard cover which required melting the pins that hold the two together. It can be done with, but you need to take your time.