<just to satisfy folks 'round here> Sirch, noob!
Now that that's out of the way...... I went through this on my Heep last spring. Someplace around here, there's a good picture of how to unbolt the loop that the latch mechanism fastens onto, by taking out the headlights. There's one bolt that goes straight back, and one bolt that goes straight up.
If you can pop the hood on a similar XJ, take a good look at where the latches hook up. With no more than a Philips screwdriver, the right socket and a couple of extensions, you should be able to have the hood open in just a few minutes.