"I noticed that the cable wont tighten completely to the tranny."
Hi JML. Check the cable at the trans connection. It sounds like it's not in properly. If the cable was replaced, there may be a piece of the old cable still in there. Disconnect the cable from the trans and (with tweezers) probe around in the connection at the trans. If there is nothing in there, reconnect the cable by making sure that the cable is all the way in before you begin tightening it.
This may not help the odometer problem if the odometer is bad. Look for a gauge cluster at swap meets, wrecking yards for one that is working and swap out the offending part.
DV