Broken hood release cable on '89 XJ

I recently pulled the hood release on my '89 XJ, and was unpleasanlty surprised when the handle came off in my hand and the hood did not release. I have a replacement cable, but cannot figure out how to get the hood open so that I can make the repair. I tried simply pulling on the cable that was left in my footweel and it seems to pull out of the dash for about 1.5 feet and then becomes stuck. My question is whether there is a tried and true method of getting the hood open without the release cable or whether I need to acquire the assistance of a mechanic. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Ecgtech

I think there is a write up on this, use the search..

Try pulling the grille and see if you can get your hand up in there to release the the latch.
Mine is borken on my '90 so the cable is just rerouted out the the front of the grille. It has a wire rope clip on the end to prevent it from pulling thru the grille.
I like the set up so well never bothered to install a new interior release.

i think i remember someone writeing about going thru the headlight bucket sounds like a hassle but if it works guess its worth it ya gotta remove the headlight and all the stuff behind the light and i think you can unbolt the latches

You can reach it from underneath also.

check out these two threads
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=75985&highlight=hood+release
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31945&highlight=broken+hood+cable

Thanks, found the previous thread and got the thing popped.