Removing S14 Speedometer Needles

[DeCepTiCon]

I performed a search and did not find anything on this specific subject. I know that they are spring loaded, so is there a way to remove them without breaking or manipulating the spring? I went to the local junk yard and picked up a cluster to experiment with. Both of the damn springs messed up while removing the needles (no matter how careful I was with it). Before I actually work on my gauge, I wanted to gather some feedback here.

Reason:
Picked up a defective speedo with white face gauges and I want to swap them out with my black gauges.