[Mart]

"Mostly correct, Mart, but only true IF the trans is shifted into any forward gear, thus...making the cluster rotate. DD"

They do turn because the shaft spinning inside the gears tends to take the gears with it (if the clutch is released). The gears will turn at a speed somewhere between the output shaft speed and zero.

Putting it in a gear is also a good idea, but make it a high gear. If you had it in first and reached highway speeds the clutch plate would be turning too fast. If the device holding the clutch down slipped out of place, the clutch would engage and the car would try to turn the engine over. Not a disaster, but in my view, just having it in neutral with the clutch disengaged keeps the rotational speeds down, but still does the job. If the device slips out of place you are just back where you would have been if you had not done anything other than put it in Neutral. (Which has been done without problem above).

Mart.