It's been a while since we mounted the tach cable into Stella. But I do remember this: when it pushes in, there is a metal "lip" edge on the front the pushes down into the slot. You have to get that to go far enough down into the hole that, when it touches bottom, the retaining screw that goes down through the case will fit behind that "lip" and hold it tight against the bottom of the hole. If your's won't go that far in, I would get some of those picks and start digging until you only have solid metal at the bottom.
Too bad you're not near Georgia or I'd gladly meet up with you to try & help out. Keep at it. You'll get it. And the result is oh so very worth it.