Would painting the needles silver come up alright? Would they be easy enough to see during the day and would they illuminate properly at night? Or should I just paint them white.

Depends what you want to do with your cluster.

If you paint them white then put blue LEDs in, then they will turn blue.

Silver will catach the blue and look a bit weird. Also the background of the cluster is gray so silver,, bar a metallic one, wont really stand out and thats what the needles need to do.

It is a metallic silver and it looks pretty sweet IMO. Just wish that they were a little brighter but I can still see them fine.

If your after gauge needles,i have a spare set of white and orange(GLi and XR)ones.Let me know if you want 'em.