The car will be test-driven soon, despite many difficulties arising along the way to roadworthiness.
Bill welded the transmission mount back together (off the car, which is the only proper way to do it) and re-installed it. The fasteners were rusted and had to be ground away -- probably why the previous owner tried (and failed) to weld the mount while it was still on the car: the mount is installed in two pieces, and then fastened together, so rusted-up fasteners make removal impossible without cutting and/or grinding. Once the mount was off the car (in more pieces than planned), Bill ground the nut off of the bolt, then got to welding - including doing a proper weld where a previous owner had done an improper one. He also noticed a couple of welds that were only done on one side, and welded them on the other side for reinforcement.
RepairedTransmissionMount1.jpgRepairedTransmissionMount2.jpg
As for the shifter cable ... Well, moving the lever inside the car was moving the cable's outer sheath, not the cable; the transmission itself remained in "Park."
The cable disappears inside the transmission. Dropping the pan exposed it somewhat, but it looks like disconnecting/connecting the cable requires further disassembly of the transmission. I don't think Bill has ever messed with a Renault 4141 before: both of his DeLoreans are manual shift. And I have never done anything to any automatic transmission apart from change the fluid.
<TMI> I know that it was rebuilt while in the previous owner's possession, probably due to overheating: the computer governor was also replaced at that time. For extra security against that happening again, I installed one of Jeff Angwin's governors in 2010 when my NOS one started acting the tiniest bit flaky, and it has shifted fine ever since. </TMI>
Bill was able to jam the outer sheath into the fitting where it screws into the transmission. The console selector is now working normally.
Exhaust is installed, as are axles (Bill replaced a torn CV boot). Once the torque converter seal is replaced, road testing can commence.