Granny's is not filling orders anymore for RX7 rear ends and motor/trans swap kits. But be warned - the website is still up and Grant will still take your money!
I ordered a rear end last Nov 2018. Grant told me that instead of 8 weeks like the site said, it would take 12 weeks and would ship by end of Feb 2019. That was fine with me.

I called end of February and he said he was behind, but it was next in line after the one he was crating up.... It would ship in 1 1/2 weeks.
I called every 3 or so weeks through March, April, May and June and every time he said it was "on his bench" and would ship out "next Monday". I work 80hr a week in the Spring and Fall, so I wasn't tooooo worried because I knew it would just sit until Summer anyway. But more than that I knew/know that it will cost me more to have someone else fab it up, and I'll have to get them all the dimensions and hope they're correct. Grant has made hundreds of these and has all the jigs and benches set up. Grrrr.

In June I talked to Grant again and told him I was going to need my money back if he couldn't make it.... 3 months had turned into 7 and I want to be out driving the car. He said that nobody is ordering parts from him anymore so he's doing other work and just doesn't have time for RX7 stuff anymore. He said he'd finish it over the weekend and ship it on Monday.

He didn't.

I contacted my Credit Card company and after 3 weeks I just got my $2800 back. I really wish Granny's could have made the part(s) I ordered, and the parts I was going to order next. I've contacted two race car chassis shops near me, who are telling me $35-3800 to make the same thing. ****, I need to start welding.
"

 

That sucks!! I Know that lots of people have had issues with him in the past as well. Glad I never had to deal with them. I did my 8.8 swap, I guess I should probably looking into doing some more...

 

I was going to suggest looking in to Samberg Performance but I always find it suspect when a company lets their domain lapse (rx7v8.com now points to 'absurd entertainment') to then only rely on a Facebook presence. In fact if a business only has a Facebook and/or Instagimp presence I tend not to deal with them. Maybe I'm biased.

 

My brother-in-law races a car he built (mostly) and trusts the shops I called for estimates, but.... without a GSL-SE axle in hand.... I have to give them all the dimensions and hope it comes out right. And they're a grand more than Granny's price.

 

Samberg is pretty much done too. If you want swap stuff Ronin Speedworks is the place to go.

 

Bummer another rx7 option gone......

Owning a first gen is a little depressing when you see all these for to places just keep disappearing and or literally dieing off.

Damn mustang and camero people don't have this problem.

 

@mikey D ,
Yes, it is very depressing. When I was 24 I bought a really sweet 10 yo '85 GSL that was (at that time) the best car I had ever owned. Now 20 some years later I can afford to buy one and resto-mod it nicely..... and there are no more parts or aftermarket support. It really sucks. I have too much money into it to give up, but G.D., I wish I'd just bought a BRZ or something.

 

Ronin doesn't support 1st Gens - just FC's and FD's.

 

That's true, but I have heard rumors that they will. I did not realize the Samberg comment was about FBs, because I thought they only did FC and FD stuff too.

 

I'm in the same boat max. I shoulda got a Miata years ago.

 

Any type of speculation that Ronin Speedworks will stop production also? I am planning an FC LS swap, but wont have the funds or the time until the fall.

 

I have not heard that at all, Ronin is a good group of guys and are active on Norotors

 

Ah, weak he seemed like he had some good fab skills adapted to new manufacturing techniques (scanning, etc).

 

Hi guys, Joel here from Ronin Speedworks chiming in. The challenge with FB's has always been that the guys doing bad *** hardcore are a bit few and far between. On thing I will mention is that we have proved that our engine mount kits works about perfect in FB's if you're doing the FC subframe swap at the same time.

And yeah, unfortunately we likely had something to do with Samberg exiting the marketplace... Details of the challenges we voiced are here: https://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=26924.0

The good news is that we're not going anywhere. We're actually making solid progress on our own version of the FD subframe that will hopefully solve a great many issues that others have run into. Oh and we're scanning an OEM subframe to be sure the mount points are all correct. :-) Hope that helps...

-Joel

 

Thanks for the heads up. I'm half tempted to pick up that non-standard subframe for one of my own non-v8 projects. Is it still available?

 

This is too bad. I bought a swap kits for my SA years ago from Granny. After a coupe of years (and shame on me), I couldn't get in touch with him anymore for support - including the modifications to the tach which is something I paid for.

I had been eyeing the rear axle swap from them, too.

You think its bad getting FB support, try an SA, its ever more difficult.

 

I have similar feelings, but for an FRS. I have now exceeded the cost of a used one, and have yet to drive my car.

 

When I was 24 my FB (the first one) was the most awesomest car I had ever owned. Later I got into American muscle cars/trucks that had WAY more power but nothing handled the mountain roads like that bone-stock 85 FB. The only thing it didnt have was hard launching power.

Fast forward 20-some years and I can afford an FB and a stout American muscle drivetrain to stuff into it. My goal was to have the vintage sports car look, but destroy modern Mustangs/Camaros/Challengers from the red light. And Granny's was GOING TO BE my bolt-on ticket to the "little guy with a big dick" club (tiny car w/ hot rod engine).

Grant strung me along for 7 months, and I'm very upset about that. But he eventually told me that he only gets orders for RX7 conversion parts once or twice a year anymore, so... he had to move on to other ventures. I am upset that he didnt tell me all that before taking my money, but I understand. But I was looking to him to allow me to buy everything and bolt it together myself. I am a good installer, but not much of a fabricator.

So, I am now sourcing hot rod shops near me to build a deaply-geared rear end, and I'm building a stout 13B. . I've shifted my purpose from beating muscle cars to beating hot imports (WRX's, GTR's, Evo Lancers, FD's, etc). I'll need a stronger transmission, looking at reman TII's. I'll have the pride of keeping it rotary, and if I lose a showdown, hey.... it's a cheap 35 year old import. But it's still a mean little bitch with 13 angry Bees under the hood.

 

Earlier this week I got an unexpected call from a Fastenal store near me, saying they had an axle from Granny's for me.

Now as I said earlier I got my money back from the Credit Card Co just over a month ago, after they investigated and contacted Granny's about it. They told me (in letters) that they couldn't get a response from Granny so were finding in my favor.

So I contacted Grant and asked him what was going on. I told him I was building a different axle, because he never delivered, and that I had gotten the funds back a month before.

He said he sent the Credit Card Co the shipping info, so they would decide if I had to pay for it or not. ??????? What?

If my card asks me to pay again I will, because I'm keeping the axle. But I don't know why it had to take so damn long and I wonder if he ever would have built it if the money hadn't been retrieved. SO, Granny's may still be a viable business. If you don't mind waiting 9 months for your order.

 

Soooo i just got a 80 sa rx7 with a blown motor. Bought a 5.0 with a t5 that cane with Grannys motor mounts trans mounts, wiring harness, ecu, slave cylinder,driveshaft.

if granny no longer makes parts. Where can i get the clutch master cylinder or can i use another one from somewhere. Can i use a 5.0 8.8 rear end? Is this swap im getting into pointless and unfinishable due to lack of part support?

 

Any race / chassis shop can hook you up. But, it will cost more than just buying from Granny, because the shops don't have the jigs already, like Granny does. All the race car /hot rod shops near me wanted $300 just to build the jig, plus the extra time/labor to have my car in their shop to test fit it, plus they all gave me funny looks about working on an old jap car. It was going to be very expensive.

Granny is cheaper, and could make your rear end in a week. Like he did in the early 2000's. But he won't. He'll take your money and tell you "12 weeks turn-around", and in 8 months you might get it, like I finally did.

My advice is look up "race cars near me" on your phone/computer. Go tell them what you want. See what they quote you. I have more money than time these days, and my car would be complete and driving now if I had just done it, instead of waiting on granny-*** Granny's.

Also, if I could do it over, I would have them graft in a complete rear subframe with parallel 4 link and panhard. My bro-in law has been bracket-racing rotaries for 20 years and all his RX3/RX7/Starlets have had this conversion. He just shakes his head at me for trying to work with the original Mazda design.

 

Shhhessh im just going to scrap the project lol. Not worth it to me

 

Restoring these cars to good running stock condition is not cheap. Fixing them up to run with modern cars is more expensive.

 

didnt mean not worth it as far as money wise. But as far as the time an headache of running around to maybe find what i need isnt worth it. All swaps and restoration projects get pricey. I have. 5letter im restoring so I completely understand the cost. I thought it was going to be more straight forward but like many said grannys website is misleading

 

I would be happy to help you out with this, I have an LT1 with a T5 in my FB