Liquid Damage & will not power up

I was given a this 2011 MacBook Pro 15" as a gift / project from a very close friend.

The current status of the unit is that when it is plugged in you can see that the battery is taking a charge.. the light on the lower right lights up and you can hear the SuperDrive make a little noise for a few seconds. When the power button is pressed nothing happens.

This is what happened. My friend had spilled coffee on the device over a year ago. I was not there so I dont know the exact details so I am going of of what he stated. He advised me that the moment it happened he removed the magsafe adapter. Sense this does have the battery that is not easily removed he was not able to do that.. he did attempt to dump all the liquid out of the device. He then did not attempt to power the unit on for about a week. He stated that he plugged the Macbook in and it did nothing so he figured it was dead. As he didnt want to deal with it and Apple advised him the cost would be close to 1500 he didnt feel it was worth the repair.

I have the iFixit tool kit comming so I can do more then just open the bottom with the precision screwdriver I have.

I do have an average understanding of things but please keep it simple.. I do not have a mulitmeter but can get one if that is deemed needed.. Photos of where to look work best for me as I am a more visual learner.. I would like to get this fixed on the cheap and hoping its just the power button requiring a top case replacement..

However if its a logic board issue I have found a company on ebay that I might use.. I am a little worried when having to send off the macbook to a company I dont know.. so if you have used one and found them to be great work and fair priced *under $300* then let me know.

I thank everyone for their advice and hope that with the use of this site and everyone's help that I can get this unit up and running as I have always wanted a macbook pro just couldnt quantify the costs.