I have seen the topic of how to open the hood once the release cable breaks come up multiple times on. There is a simple solution if you find yourself in this situation.

Use a screwdriver or other tool that you can pry the driver side headlight out. The mechanic I talked to suggested going in from the grille side of the light. With a little force the headlight will snap loose from the adjusters that hold it in and give access to the hood release cable.

Surprisingly simple I thought.

 

This won't work if the cable isn't attached to the bonnet, for whatever reason. I'm about to break my front grill, in an attempt to gain access to the bonnet.

 

Are you able to look at another vehicle, perhaps at a used car dealer, etc., before you do that? Seeing it from the top might give you some other ideas.

If you used a Dremel tool to saw part of the grille out it might even be able to be reconstructed with some ingenuity and "new" highlight stripes.

If you have a salvage yard nearby, that's another place to eyeball how things are put together, might also pick up a grille on the cheap. I paid $15 last time.

Of course we know that you need to open that hood soon, after all, by now you are probably a quart low....

 

Thanks, Buzz! Actually, oil's fine. It's the upper coolant hose that's leaking around the JB weld that I put over the bleed screw, the fact that it's misfiring so bad, that my SES light blinks (hopefully new cables will solve this), the small leak in the radiator - those are what I'm trying to get accomplished this weekend!

I'm trying to find a good schematic of the bonnet itself. The RAVE manual doesn't show where exactly the latch is. I'm afraid that even if I break the grill, that I'd still have a bitch of a time fishing around for the latch.

You put a bug in my ear about converting to a Saudi grill - gotta admit, I like it!

 

Surely there is a Local Independent Auto Retailer (LIAR) in Boston with a D2 for sale. Or check craigslist / statewidelist.com. Before making an incision it may be worth while to put the Mark 1 eyeball on another. And for a $ or two, most U-pull parts yards let you in the door. There is no shame in pre-owned, think of it as vintage jewelry, no one has to know you didn't pay full price. And maybe the pop a lock guys are worth a call. It took two of them 45 minutes to get into my Honda CRX once.

 

Funny, i called four local locksmiths. Each had either a receptionist or answering service who was non-technical. "we only work on locks."

I tried explaining to them that they might actually have the tools and skill set to do the job and that I would happily pay their hourly fee! I figured that they might want the work. (shrug)

I absolutely agree with you: I'm not going to start cutting until I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

The nearest LR dealer is 20+ miles from me, none of the junkyards I called have a LR. There's a garage that works on LR near me, I figured that I would toss them a few bucks, if they could describe the process to me.

If all that fails, I'll troll CL, see if I can stop by and have a look at one - good suggestion!

 

When I took the pix below of a D1, the small hole with the bolt is where the cable attaches, the bolt slides toward driver's side, and it pulls that side of the latch along with it (the part that looks like a crescent moon moves toward the right in the picture). You might be able to see more with a mirror inserted thru the grille, or from below. I would think that if you can pop out the headlight (might have to buy some plastic "fixings" later for maybe $15 - $20), you may be able to use a stiff piece of wire with a crook in it to snag the latch bolt, then pull toward you. That Phillips screw is the center screw on the plastic grille.

As for the locksmiths - Question 1 - can you get into doors on cars? Yes? Great - I will bring one to your shop, so you won't have travel time, and you open the bonnet door. These guys soak the un-sober every Friday and Saturday who lock their keys in their cars at bars (they do still serve spirits around Boston). But they may charge close to a Ben Franklin.

 

Thanks for your help, Buzz. I appreciate it. While I was able to get an idea how the bonnet mechanism works, I decided to hack away my grill. That gave me easy access and the hood was popped within minutes.

 

Now you have extra motivation for the custom Saudi grille conversion - how about in some contrasting "loud & proud" color instead of the normal basic black?

 

I found this thread searching for a fix for my broken hood release cable. I keep seeing the reference to a #SaudiGrilleConversion. Can anyone post a pic of this?