When I put on my white face guages, I did the same thing (remove the needle). My RPMs seemed a lot higher thereafter, and my speedo seemed a lot lower. I thought I put the needle back in place too, but I guess I was wrong.

What I decided to do worked, even though I was probably a little lucky to get the needles back in the exact proper position...

I simply removed the dash components around the instrument panel, and then removed the clear case around the panel. This fully exposed the gauges. I then turned the key to the on position (but didn't start the car), which sends power to the instruments. Pop off the needles for the speedo and the tach. Put them back on so that they point behind the stop-pin, but only pop them on partially. This will cause the actual pin that the needles go on to spin, but give you enough clearance to move the needles back up and over - in front of the stop-pin.

I moved the speedo needle about 1/2 inches behind the pin, and then back in front of it. I moved the tach needle about 3/8 inches behind pin, and then back in front of it.

Reinstall the clear cover and the dash, and you should be good to go.

I just went past a radar detector thingy a few days ago, and the speedo was dead-on. As for the RPMs, they seem like they are the same at 60mph as before.

Sorry if my explanation is unclear. This whole thing is slightly difficult to explain with words.

Words. who needs em!