Chris, I replied to your PM in more detail but I'll leave the info here as well for others.
1. The needles are thin metal. You can simply bend it with a pair of tweezers. I'd bend from the base so you don't distort the visible portion of the needle or crack the paint. My fuel new gauge was slightly different than the original and hit the lower edge of the painted bezel too. I ended up bending it down at the base to clear the bezel then up a little further down the needle to clear the gauge face. My ammeter needle still sticks a bit...nothing a tap on the glass doesn't free up tho.
Also, while we're on the topic of the fuel gauge... when you first fire up the truck with the new gauge in place, if it's off, you'll need to adjust the sending unit float arm by bending it a little to read higher or lower.
2. Crimp. It holds everything in place before mounting them in the dash. I used a set of pliers with tape wrapped around the teeth to avoid scratching them. Ended up scratching them anyway but the crimped edge is hidden by the dash so it doesn't really matter. The glass sits up around the top section of the bezel so I doubt you'll break it.
Here are the blog entries I made when I did mine...
Pt.1 -
http://rustyfiftyone.com/gremlin-hunting/Pt.2 -
http://rustyfiftyone.com/248/
