got cracking today and refitted the new front end including new bumper, salvaged (rust treated and painted) front panel and new 4 lamp grill:
green stripe grill and headlamps off:


old slam panel off:

tidied the wiring looms up. they come out of the chassis legs (around 6" back) and needed protecting, so got busy with the orange conduit again:


put the upgraded headlamp loom relays inside their new home:


stuck it onto the inner wing (as in hindsight i made the +ve and earth wires a bit short, so nowhere else to put it)

new slam panel on:

headlights on:

then i realised, whilst tidying the wiring looms, i'd chopped off and concealed the o/s/f indicator wiring! i thought it was the fog light wiring. so i had to dig it out of the conduit and make another connector:

after a bit of swearing (and now a bad back) its all back together, c/w the fog light CAI:

CAI runs up here, 50cm is just right!

also
- i now have spot lights connected up (the OE plugs from the H4 plugs had been chopped off, so found some more plugs)
- the horn now has an OE connector
- the wings sit better around the grill
yay.