Howdy Noctifer and welcome to the madness,
Since you said you were rooting around behind the gauge cluster I'll assume you got the facia off.
1.Disconnect the battery.
2. Open the hood and push as much of the speedo cable into the interior as possible. If you have cruise control, just unscrew the cable from the control unit and push about 6 inches into the interior.
3. Remove the lower trim cover from the steering column (only if you have an automatic) and push the PRND21 indicator wire off of its slotted mounting arm.
4. Remove the screws holding the gauge cluster to the metal bracing behind it. Very carefully you will have to push the tension arm (the part sticking out on the right side of the gauge cluster) out from behind the heat/ac control head.
5. From the right side, unhook the round wiring connector from the back of the cluster.
6. From the left side remove the arc shaped connector from the cluster.
7. You should now have enough room to get a pair of slip joint pliers behind the cluster and push the locking tab in on the speedometer cable connector. Once that is off you can pull the cluster forward and remove the rest of the wires. You might have to change the previous three steps around depending on the slack in your wire harness.
8. There are two lights with thier own wire and connectors on the back of the panel. These plastic housings have a locking tab on each side and both must be pushed in at the same time to release them.
9. There is one other two wire connector you will have to unplug before you can completely remove the cluster. You shouldn't have to lower the steering column if you are carefull.
As long as you are back there you might as well replace all the lights. Go buy some #168's as they are about 1 watt more powerfull than the stock ones. Also take the time to clean all the dust and gunk from the insides of your backlighting filters. You can also take those plastic filters out and buy some colored #168 bulbs to change you dash lighting scheme. They come in red, blue, and orange I think. Someone once mentioned using halogens (they are a bit more expensive) but I have no experience with them. You have a total of 11 bulbs back there but only five (I think) are used for back ground illumination, so unless you want a bright "brights" (highbeams) light you don't need the #168's in those slots, just use new stock ones.
As long as the dash is off take the oppourtunity to replace the bulb behind the plastic cover for the headlight/washer wiper control unit. I lined the insides of the housing with aluminum foil to help brighten it a bit too. The headlight knob is released but pushing in on the little button way up under the dash on the backside of the headlight switch. Pull the knob out until it stops, the press in on the button and it should wiggle the rest of the way out.
Cheers
Chris
