Okay here goes.. 1993 TR Verada daily drive.

Switching from high beams back to normal driving lights, all my headlights go off and will not switch back on. It appears that the parkers and the cluster do still work, albeit very dimly. So today i believe i have narrowed it down to some sort of meltdown up in the indicator stalk, as the headlights themselves work and the relays and fuses are all functioning correctly. I have removed the plastic steering wheel covers and just looking around does anyone know if there are some sort of contacts up in there and if they are interchangeable, or if its necessary to replace everything from the indicator stalk up?

The indicator stalk only turns the relay power on and off. Not repairable. Symptoms sound like a dud relay and possibly a bad earth. Try changing it temporarily for one of the others in the box. Hi /Low is a change over contact at the bottom of the stalk. from memory you have to change the complete switch mechanism over cause although you might be able to pull the switch apart you cant buy the individual parts.

Normally the switch gear in the stalk is quite reliable. Failed ones often do so because the contacts develop high resistance, heat up, and melt the plastic surrounds. They only run relay switching current, so this is not a common problem. Get another from a wreckers, should be plenty there in good condition as they are not an in-demand item. Plug in, test out, switch over. If the problem is still there look at wiring and relays.

If you don't want to do this, you could always identify the crook switch, disconnect the wires to it and run them out to a 2 position switch on the dash to switch from low to high beam. Cool mod, be the first! lol (joke)

Hardest part of this is to get the steering wheel off without smashing yourself in the face with it. Dentists are expensive! (Been there, done that, believe it or not). If you are at the wreckers and the wheel is stubborn, move onto another car. Some steering wheels wont budge at all, not without destroying them anyway. Remove horn pad, back off nut but don't remove, then thump wheel from underneath.