Just for completeness.... re-seating the gauges did not in fact fix my problem.... it fixed my temp gauge only (at least I think it did).

I decided that before I sat upside down in the drivers seat for hours with my DVM checking wires, I wanted to verify it was not a problem inside the "black box" that is the fuse box/bcm.

I grabbed a fresh junk yard fuse box at the pick a part place from a gs spyder. The BCM had a different harness on it, so I swapped my old bcm over (that black box on the back of the fuse box)...

All is well now. No connectors needed changed or anything. I have my tach back, fuel gauge, power windows, that awesome beeping sound, brake indicator, airbag lights, check engine light, etc!

For other removing the fuse box... there is a button on top that releases it from the bracket, no need to pull a bolt from the top, just a 10mm (I believe) at the bottom.