Having to drop the steering column about an inch depends on which steering column. Ya can sneak the bezel past a column shift automatic, the floor shifted one ya gotta drop. The lense bezel is held in with white nylon push pins around the perimeter, they pull out toward you. Ya can get most of them with a small pliers. For the ones along the bottom that ya can't reach, give the bezel a sharp tug towards you. Put em back in with a nut driver.

Often the problem with the dash bulbs is a crappy connection between the bulb itself and the socket. With the gauges pulled out, real easy to get the bulbs out of the socket. I test them across a battery then give the socket contacts a bit of a bend to tighten their grip on the bulb. The leads on the bulb often need a tweak as well. Avoid the temptation to pop them out from the back as designed / intended. Ya'll end up pulling the carrier forward to get them back in.