Dave, Empire has been discussed and discussed at length on this forum in the past, you might try the search function to find some history. As I recall Empire is in El Paso, TX.
As I recall they had a corporate name change a couple of years ago - don't know if it was a management/ownership change or just a name change.
I certainly have heard plenty of horror stories about them; my only experience was OK, ordered a set of Packard Twelve heads for a friend and had them within 10 days and the quality was excellent. Still, there must be something behind all the complaints.
PS - just did a search on this site, Empire Motors was previously known as MFT, also in El Paso, TX.
You might want to review some of this thread:
https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=592&forum=2&post_id=5069#forumpost5069This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=114725