Guages all dead - '98 XJ

Yesrerday, during a local drive, The speedo, tach., ammeter, water
temp. guage, oil pressure guage, and the fuel guage all flat-lined.
The odometer and dask lights still work.

I have gone through the fuse block and the box of relays & fuses under
the hood and all are OK. I've read online (at the NAXJA site) that
often it is that connector(s) at the back of the instrument cluster
have probably become corroded. While some said that this was one-hour
fix, it looks as though much of the dash may need to be removed in
order to get the cluster free.

Has anyone had experience with this issue? Tips, tricks, please?
Thanks.

Jim