First thing I find is that the wires going into the lights are for the sidelights rather than the dips so that is not much use. I have a look at the wiring chart and determine the colour for the light circuit and that matches that coming out of the fuse box. I get under the front with a cloth and clean up a few wires until I find the right wire. There is a connection block so I pull the wire out. I test for voltage and get something on it, so I clean that up and put it back. Next step is to take out the light, so I take off the surround and pull the sealed beam unit off. I discover I am getting voltage to the back of the headlamp unit as well, so that narrows it down to either grounding or two blown bulbs. I check the resistance across the two terminals that were connected and get O/C.

Next step is to whip off the other side and this yields voltage to the second lamp but no blown bulb. That leaves grounding. I have a look under again and notice a spade connector hanging loose. Checking the connectivity with this and the matching colour wire (black) coming out of the light units yields a positive. This is the culprit. Sure enough connecting this up yields light on the passenger side. There appears to be a second circuit in the driver's side sealed beam and wiring this up yields light on that side too. Well some light has to be better than none.

So now I have dipped headlights, but the aiming probably leaves a lot to be desired. One of the beam adjusters is broken, so I resolve to try to source some beam adjusters and leave well enough alone until then. I do make an exception for the driver's side main beam as it is just stupidly badly adjusted and is likely to attract stray aircraft.

It is a bit of a tight squeeze getting in to the levering point, but I manage to it after removing a bit of trim and a speaker. Not exactly easy on the knuckles. I figure out how to push the cable and after a lot of cursing I manage to grab hold and get it through the door pillar. Now I hit a snag. It doesn't appear that there is an anchoring point for the sheath and the remains of the old cable indicate it is of a different type. It looks like there are two types and I have the wrong one. Anyway, I decide that I can jury rig something until I get the right cable. So I figure something and temporarily attach the lever in such a way that it should be all right.

I try a few test pulls and it appears that all is well. So I close the boot lid and nothing catches. Ah, yes that half of the locking mechanism is loose in the boot. I attach that and gingerly close the boot. That catches nicely. I go round to the release and pull the cable. Nothing gives. I push the cable back in and notice that all is loose. Remember that slightly loose anchor point at the other end. You guessed it. Not tight enough.

At this stage I decide that enough is enough and at least the boot is securely closed. He who fights and runs away and all that. Besides the afternoon was closing in rapidly and I had promised my daughter a run over to grand-dads. So I gave the battery about 20 minutes on the charger, put in the child seat and off I went. I took the charger with me in case I found myself a bit short when I got there but all seemed to be well.