Just a thought to interject on the flaring of the hood latch pins. I am not a mechanical engineer, but it occurred to me that during a collision, the hood could begin to fold like Greg suggested. If the hood pins are not flared, the aft end (windshield end) of the hood could pull itself free from the latches and become a serious hazard to the occupants. Think guillotine. I plan to keep my flares.

 

This happened to my 92 three years ago. The hood [oops! "bonnet"] will only open about an inch before the safety latch catches it. After many fruitless attempts and some skinned knuckles, I took a half day off from work and drove slowly, with a careful eye on the opening and safety latch, to the nearest dealer almost an hour away.

Then I read magazines and used their wifi to mess around, and in just over two hours the car was returned to me, everything working right, and freshly washed and dried. The cost was less than $100, and was very worth it.

They didn't volunteer, and I have no idea, how it was accomplished. But standing on my head down under the dash with a flashlight, poking and prodding, only frustrated me. The sad thing is, I already had the new cable, just couldn't get it to go the right way.

My 92 has a short cable from the lever to the left catch, then a second cable connecting to the right catch. So far, the left-to-right cable is still original. [fingers crossed!] Didn't know there were two when I bought the one.

 

Instead of a cable, I used a bicycle spoke. Easy installation, adjustable, and almost break proof (Idea from XJS Forum)

 

I did grind the pin flare off mine. I can see no safety factor involving the bonnet beheading me in case of a collision. I don't ram things with my cars anyway. If I were younger and expected to live many more years, I might be more cautious. I makes me smile that so many of you think Jaguar had a good reason to flare the pins. This is, after all the guys that put the park brake handle on the left of the drivers leg for LHD cars. Where is it for RHD cars? Cheers, RagJag

 

Cybercg posted this back in 2012 and it was really helpful as I tried to fix my broken bonnet cable. I got so much bad advice about how this was impossible and I'd need to cut a hole in my car. Don't believe it. I used the above thread from Cybercg to start and then I added some additional technology to find and remove the bolts. It's actually fairly easy to do.

The process I followed was:

1. Removed the grill and front hood hinge bolts.
2. Pulled the hood forward (don't worry about the hood struts, leave them attached).
3. Lifted the hoof up about 4-5" and supported it with a 24" piece of 2X4 wood running from the grill toward the windshield about 10"-12" inboard from the hood edges.
4. Removed two bolts on the drivers side hood latch that secures it to a mount bracket. I used a 30" AND a 24" 3/4 socket extension together (I purchased these:
   Amazon
   Amazon
   ) . The socket needed for the bolt is a metric 8MM.
5. The extensions together look silly, but allow you to work from the front of the car (front of the hood) without skinning your knuckles.
6. Since I did it by myself I needed to find a way to "see" under the hood. Back in 2012 this option didn't exist for Cybercg, but I purchased a mini scope lighted camera attached to my cellphone to find the bolts under the hood and better use the long socket. (This is the one I used
   Amazon
   Amazon
   )
7. You should only have to unbolt the drivers side to release the hood.
8. Now that the hood was open I bolted the hood latch back in place.
9. I replaced the hood release cable with a new one from SNG Barratt part number: HHC2540AA and lubricated everything and tested for proper release.
10. As Cybercg advised, I realigned the hood for proper clearances at the windshield cowl and both fenders.
    1. 
       This is the long socket extension
       
       Needed the camera to see the bolts back here when the hood was down.
       
       The latch unbolted and everything released!
       
       This is the camera with lights on the end. It was very helpful when trying to do this. It gave me eyes under the hood.
       
       The hood latch has 2 - 8 MM bolts you'll need to remove.
       
       Camera was fed forward to this position so I could see and illuminate the area and it helped me to attach the long socket on the bolts.