Have you used a data recovery service or know of a good one?

[Crucial]

I don't recommend essdatarecovery.com. nothing but run around and empty promises the 2 times I tried their services.

 

[drinkmorejava]

A few years ago, I took an old drive apart, cut off the front face, and covered it with acrylic so i could see it run (I was bored). It actually worked for a few weeks afterwards, but you'd have to be handling it a bit more. Once I had the cover unscrewed I just threw the drive in an electrostatic bag until I had the cover made; you won't be nearly as cut and dry for you though.

The biggest problem I see for you would be having the right tools available to unsrew the platters without stripping them and getting metal shavings everywhere.