You have to take it off as an assembly, but you can then unscrew the cluster from the surround and put the cluster back on. There won't be anything to hold it to the dash other than the wiring though, but I have BTDT a few times when testing things.
For what its worth, you can also drive around without the cluster.
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'03 S, manual, 18" Carrera wheels, PSM, PSE, Litronic, 996 Cluster, +
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