Can anyone tell me what type/fitting of bulb is used? one of mine has blown and i don't want to farce around taking the dash out to see, put it back, go to the auto factors, remove the dash, change the bulb and then put it back again.

The bulbs in the dash are identical to simple side/parking light bulbs:



The bulbs behind the cluster (behind the speedo & tach, etc.) have red covers that can be re-used. The bulb sockets can also be re-used, you only need the above bulb(s). Taking off the cluster and replacing the blown out ones will only take you about ca 10 mins and is rather easy.

My next task is to replace the blown bulbs behind the heater panel which is gonna be a far greater pain in the...

Er...not completely true...

sidelight bulbs are the large 5W type...most of the ones in the cluster are smaller, only a couple are the large ones I think...and they are rated lower than the 5W ones, 3W I think...

heater panel bulbs are a doddle, the holders are fitted from the rear of the control unit

Ah, yes indeed, I forgot about those. The large ones illuminated the gauges (tach, speedo, etc.) and the small ones were meant for various indicator lights (fogs on, TSC off, etc.). Large bulb versus small bulb (23. vs 24.):