Ok, so I think I screwed up. I discovered today that the PO of my CR-V took the bulb out for the check engine light. I could've sworn I checked that it came on during bulb check before I purchased the car. Anyway, I scanned for codes today just for fun, found 3 (all O2 related, which would explain my crappy fuel mileage recently), then said, "Hey, why isn't my CEL on!" Pulled out the cluster, heard the bulb rattling around inside. Unfortunately, this bulb isn't supposed to be replaceable, so whatever jerk-wad did it just broke it off of the circuit board with a screwdriver, I assume. In order to get to the front of the circuit board to re-solder the bulb onto it, the needles have to come off (they are obviously too big to pull through the small holes in the gauge face). I thought it might be bad to pull them off, but alas, I did it anyway. So now I have a CEL that illuminates correctly, but I have 4 gauges that aren't reading correctly (temp, tach, speedo, fuel). The tach doesn't move at all with engine speed, the temp and fuel sweep but aren't in the right spot, and the speedo just kinda goes wherever it wants to.
Is this fixable apart from replacing the cluster/meter assembly (almost $500 online)? I disconnected the battery hoping they would all reset, but nothing changed. There's no set way to put the needles in, the pegs spin infinitely, it seems, when the needles are off, and they are so tiny there was no way to mark anything or see anything before I pulled them off. Obviously they get put on afterward at the factory, so there's got to be a way to calibrate or reset this. ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED! I was planning to drive this to MN on vacation this Friday, but that might be tougher with no tach, fuel gauge, or speedo. 
Oops...can someone with a higher pay grade than me move this to the general GRM section? 
Worst case, I would do this:
Ebay listing
In reply to Slippery:
Yup, I thought of that too. Just have to find the correct one-Honda has 2, an NS and a Visteon. Mine's NS, that's a Visteon. Should be able to find one, though, and I can probably send it in to get the mileage changed.
Thank you Mr. David Wallens for moving this to the proper section (I accidentally posted it in Build Threads)! This is just a bump so hopefully some more eyes see it.
I have no idea how to fix what you did to your cluster. I would find another used cluster and carry on.
In reply to clutchsmoke:
Haha, thanks. I appreciate your honesty!
Is there anything in the shop manual or is it one of the sub assemblies made out of house.
Unfortunately I don't have a shop manual for this yet. Maybe I'll have to check on ALL-Data or Mitchell at work tomorrow. I think I'll fill the tank and pop the fuel gauge needle to the F mark, then use my GPS for the speedo on our road trip. When I get back I can source a used one and have it sent out and programmed so the mileage is correct.
Once again, the first thing you need to do is invent a time machine. Go back in time, and figure out where the stop in the motor that drives the gauges is, rotate the needles down to that, and mark the point of the needle with a bit of masking tape. Pull needles, do your stuff, then put needles back on and rotate them against the stop until they are pointed to the tape marks.
I'm making a couple of assumptions here- the biggest being that these are motor driven gauges, another being they have stops built into the motor. Theres a bunch of pretty good videos on youtube for repairing GM clusters, since the motors in them fail so often.
Here is a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j_uBRx9j-c
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
I figured there were stops too, but the drives just seem to spin endlessly. Can't even really see them until you pull it apart, at which time you are screwed, as I am now. 
Ok, so I just watched that video. The motors that my needles fit in don't look exactly the same, they aren't covered and you can see the open windings-I assume it's pretty much the same as the GM ones, just look a little different. Maybe if I pull it apart, pop the needles on and turn them to the stop, then put it back together and see where they sit it will work. The temp and fuel gauges appear to have a range that they fit it-basically a plastic stop top and bottom-and those gauges are sweeping, just in the wrong spot. I will look at my buddy's CR-V, find the right place for the temp gauge, then fill the tank and put the fuel gauge at F. The tach and speedo have a peg at the bottom, so maybe there's no stop at all? The speedo just jumps in 5-10 mph increments, and the tach doesn't move at all.
