Replacing the Instrument Bracket

We got this new old stock instrument bracket in the mail today, wrapped in its super cool Harley Davidson 70s packaging. The NOS bracket has a little ding on the front (maybe it was a factory "irregular") but otherwise looks great with it's original paint finish. 

Our current bracket is rusted and the oval tabs look like they might break off with the force of a pinky.

Trying to remove the instruments proved to be a learning experience in patience. Unlike the near-to-instant gratification of polishing the rust off the chrome, getting into actual bike components is a slow, careful navigation of unfamiliar engineering. Add to this, trying to gingerly remove the nearly 50 year old parts so we don't damage them in the process. This includes old rubber gaskets, trying to not break aluminum bolts, and trying to not crack any difficult to find plastic parts. 

Removal required:

1. Removed the tach, speedo, and brake cables from the front wheel
2. Removing clamp to release the handlebars
3. Unscrewing the entire instrument cluster from the forks (Here we ran into a seized fork bolt nut threatening to completely undo itself with the spring exploding out of it.       

Here, we ran into a roadblock. The four screws attaching the molded plastic shell forming the underside of the instrument cluster seemed permanently attached. Were they press fitted on to the posts? Did we need to unscrew the strange plastic sleeves which we'd never seen before? [NB. The service manual is barely helpful and we were trying to be delicate with all the parts instead of ripping them off with brute force.]

The bracket that we thought we'd install in half an hour…LOL.