The consensus for getting the needle off is using two kitchen
teaspoons at opposite ends and gently prying  it up
simultaneously.  I got mine up using similar technique before I heard
about the spoons. One other hint I should mention is that I'd gently
lift the speedo needle over the peg and let it "relax" and then mark
that position for reinstalling.  The difference in the tension on the
needle now and having no tension on it when you reinstall it will
cause a noticeable speedo error if you don't

Been awhile since I did my odo reset, but I do remember taping the
numbers down that I wasn't going to change so they stayed in
alignment with the drive gear out. I had to add mileage to mine from
127k to 239k!  So I was just changing the first 3 numbers.

YMMV

DM&FS

At 01:59 PM 1/30/2010, Stephen Grisanti wrote:
>We're snowed in today and I'm taking advantage of it to work on the
>parts odometer I picked up this week.  I'm trying to remove the
>square, clear plastic gear carrier, the guts of the display, from
>the black base piece so that I can manipulate the gears, reset the
>mileage to what my own van has and apply the cement to affix the
>gears to their respective shafts, but the speedo needle tension
>spring and holder which fit on the needle shaft are keeping the
>whole thing from coming apart.  I'm poking and prying gently but at
>this point usually progress to irreparable damage due to boundless
>enthusiasm, and the Bentley doesn't go quite far enough into the
>works to be of use.
>
>Help prevent a $12 disaster by guiding me through this. Thanks!
>
>Stephen