RS- the shift lever and trans lever bushings had deteriorated and fallen out of the holes, and I wasn't always getting the car into P or N when I'd shift, at least, that's what I'd thought the problem was, because I couldn't key start the car without jiggling the shift lever alot. Sometimes I could disengage the emergency break and physically feel the car roll forward and sort of catch itself when actually in park. Then I'd be able to key start. While changing the bushings, yes, I broke off the arm of the NSS and ordered a new one.

RS & Diesel -

I had to travel and got away from this for a few days.

So, how the car was behaving prior to putting in the new NSS:

A rebuilt starter was put in by my friend who sold me the car, about 3 years ago by a professional mechanic. I got a brand new battery about four months ago, and shortly after that had all new glow plugs put in. About a week and a half ago, I cleaned and regreased my fuse terminals, putting in all new, good fuses.

The car was key starting, only, for about the last year, I would have trouble in P and was told by my mechanic and a friend that the bushings were going bad. Finally, I also began to loose N. I could jiggle the shifter and pull it back and forth in between N & P, and eventually it would key start. I also had some luck disengaging the emergency brake and letting the car roll forward or backward a bit, to get it engaged into P properly, then I could key start. WHILE changing the bushings, I broke the NSS, which is why I changed it.

RS- I tried starting with the shifter a bit out of N in either direction. No dice. I'll have to go back under, loosen and re-align the NSS using the 4mm drill bit in the holes, the method you were mentioning.

Diesel- If I jumper the wires in the female terminal of the purple wires that are above the pedal, does that mean that I take a piece of lamp wire and stick both ends into both terminals and then try to start? And, if I get a start, does that indicate just the NSS problem (which could be faulty alignment) and does that rule out the starter and the male electrical plug that I plugged into the NSS? I'm not sure what I can deduce from that method, but am excited to try.

SOLVED START ISSUE!!
 

It took quite a while, and a whole bunch of different questions, but I finally had to bite the bullet and see a mechanic, since I'm working on my car either on the street in Queens, NY, or up at a friend's place.

I knew that the starter was good, because I could jump start by short circuiting two wires in the small box above the passenger side wheel well. Mechanic ruled out a bad starter solenoid because that solenoid is engaged when short circuiting. I had figured that the Neutral Safety Switch was okay, but that maybe I had installed it wrong, but in the end, that's a very straight-forward installation, and the mechanic determined it was fine. I had replaced the shift lever bushings myself, so I knew those were fine.

The issue was a faulty ignition, and the resolve was to attach a wire to the small terminal box wires that I was jumping before, and run it into the cabin. Having a mechanic do this, he attached a ground wire as well, and installed a small button next to the light switch.

I cycle the glow plugs with the key, then push the button and I'm all set. In the end, this was the least expensive option for me, because after he's checked everything, were I to go with a new ignition, I'd be spending a whole lot more, as I can't install that myself. The button is now a permanent fixture, however, this could also be a temporary fix, and the button could be somewhere less obvious, in its own little housing.

Thanks for all of the help, it took a long time for me to get this taken care of, but in the end, I learned alot about the car.