as the title says, i just bought a 94 samurai.  took the train out to Iowa on Saturday and drove her back to Michigan yesterday.  She ran like a champ the whole way home.  It just has two small issues that I'd like to fix right away, and I was wondering how much trouble it will be for me to do these myself.
Problem 1:  the speedometer stopped working shortly after i started driving home.  My best guess is that the cable broke.  since cables are pretty cheep, I ordered one today.  if that doesn't fix the problem,  what else could cause the speedometer to stop working aside from the possibility that the gauge itself went bad.
Problem 2:  the blue indicator light for my high beams stopped working, what are some reasons for that to happen?  The high beams still work, I just feel like a jerk when i don't realize they're on and someone is coming towards me.

These rigs are pretty simple, if it's not the cable or a broken gauge then the only thing left is the gear in your transfer case.  The speedometer went out on my SJ as well, I just use a GPS instead.

For the high beam light it is probably a bad light bulb.  The only other reason it would go bad is if you lost ground somewhere, but I would try the light bulb first.

Thanks, how difficult is it to get the dash apart?

Not very.  I believe it is just the four screws on the dash and it pulls forward.

excellent,  i should have time to get everything done this weekend.  hopefully i won't have to post any more questions.  thanks for your help.

On the earlier round venter dashes which may be the same as the later square vent dashes, to pull the instument panel, yes you need to remove the 4 allen head bolts and because the hazard lights switch sticks up in the way and may break, drop the steering a little bit.  This is done by removing the plastic part of the dash under the steering column and loosening the 2 torx bolts that holds the column just enough to clear the haward switch.

thanks for all your help.  I picked up a "universal" speedometer cable and found out last night, that it's not so universal.  no big deal, i just ordered a cable that was made for a samurai and hopefully i'll have it before the weekend. 
i have another concern that i noticed this weekend,  it feels like i've lost a lot of horsepower since i bought it.  I could just be crazy and didn't notice the lack of power on my drive home.  but, my acceleration is lousy up until about 3000 rpm (i'm guessing since i don't have a tach).  once i hit that point she'll pull me back into my seat.  also, if i'm going 70 mpr on flat road i can't hold speed in 5th gear.  I ran a diagnostic, but the only code that pulled up was for the speed sensor.  what could be causing the loss in hp? or am i just nuts?

There are a couple of things.  The first to do is a full tune-up since you just got the vehicle.  Cap, rotor, plugs and wires.  Next would be to check the timing.  If your timing is to far back you will see a loss in power at lower rpm's.  One way to check is to mark where your timing is at currently, then try advancing it slightly and going for another test run.

it's alive!

all i needed to do was adjust the distributor, she runs like a dream now. still did a tune up to make sure.

Nice!