[C. Clark]

Hi Bill,
The gauges are easy, sort of. You must remove the protective cardboard type piece from the front that hides the heater unit. My Porsche is a 69 so my knowlege is limited to that. OK, I removed the plastic heater / blower unit completely, it's held down with snap ring type fasteners, the cables must be disconnected, that a little weird but doable and a wiring block near the blower. Once you have that stuff out of the way you'll be able to see the back side of the gauges. Each guage has two finger nuts holding a U bracket on the back of the guage, pressuring against the inside of the dash. Remove the U bracket on the clock first. Once the bracket is off gently push the guage out through the hold in the dash. The guage will move forward far enough to see were and how the wires are connected. I used colored poster paint to color code the wires and connects, labels would work too as long as they don't fall off. Next comes the speedometer, that a little tricky but again doable, Unscrew the cable from the back, return to the inside and disconnect the milage reset knob, the knob has a tiny set screw in the center that must be removed to get the speedo out I used one from my computer repair kit, rather small, available at any Radio Shack type store. Once this is removed the rest is a simple mounting nut and it will push through the dash,do the U bracket thing, mark the wires. Now it gets alittle easier, on my car I could take the finger nut loose from the speedo hole in the dash, next is the tack, once it's out try and work from the hole left by it, oil and fuel are next, fuel was tricky for me but workable, tight spaces.
I just re-read your post, removing the dash I believe is over kill, I cleaned and repainted mine in the car, just mask everthing off very carefully and completely. Taking out the dash involves I believe removal of the windshield, to get the dash pad off, The bolsters or knee protectors are removed with a 7mm socket, two nuts each side, on the passengers side remove the glove box, much easier.. no big deal.
I didn't mean to write a book, I hope I have been of aid to you, I did all this to my 912 with no dash removal, I would do that as a last ditch fix.
Good luck,
Chas