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Make sure you check with other collectors before you invest in parts from Empire.

I already have the 327 with a 288 AT head installed on it. So I at least have a small bump over the stock setup.

BIGKEV: The firm that is making these heads has a very bad reputation in this hobby. These people have many legal claims filed against them including the AACA.

Aluminun heads used in conjuction with a cast iron blocks have been a PIA for years. The Packard 359 engine with aluminum heads is no exception.

John F. Shireman

Someone mentioned to me that they make have changed ownership in the last two years.

So I will have to ferret that out. I would not want to buy something from a company that wont deliver, or stand behind their products.

My wife forgot to renew my membership to Old Cars Weekly, s o I have not seen the write-ups in there about the new stuff Empire has been working on.

I got this reply from Empire today:

"Dear Sir,

Empire Motors, Inc., has been servicing the public for the last two years, I do not of any complaints, we answer all letter, E-Mails, and Phone calls, is there any issues unknown to us. that we may address.


R.A. Perriguey
President
Empire Motors Inc
Casting / Machining Division
13451 Montana Ave
El Paso, TX 79938-9616 USA

Phone No. 915-856-9607
Fax No. 915-856-9637

Email: info@empiremotorsinc.com
Web Site www.empiremotorsinc.com"

He did make reference that they have had no reported issues in the last two years. So I think prehaps that is when the business was purchased by the new owners. In another email R.A. requested that anyone that had any outstanding issues with their products or services to contact to contact him directly so he could make it right.

I dont know what happened with any pervious owners, or of anything occured duing R.A.'s watch, but at least he is offering to try to make things right.

So if you know of anybody that has an outstanding issue with Empire, please let me know, or call Empire directly and lets see if we can make everyone happy. Hopefully anything that happend in the past can get cleared up to everyones satisfaction and then we can all move forward and feel confident in using their products.

I think they make some unique heads and other parts that are not found else where in the market place for Packards, and I would like to be able to feel confident in buying one for my 327 in the future.

Just as an aside, I purchased a set of HC aluminum heads for the Packard Twelve from the prior company, MFT of El Paso; although I was aware of the complaints of slow delivery and the like, I did receive the heads quickly and they were of excellent quality.

Thanks for the input Dave. I think it important to seperate fact from rumor. So I am glad to here you had a good experience with the heads your ordered. If any one else has first hand experience with Empire, good or bad, I think it would be useful for people to know.

Dave, if you dont mind me asking, what did the H/C heads cost for the Packard Twelve when you bought them?

Well I spoke to Ron who is the president of Empire and who owns 100% of the company stock. Here is the back story:

Ron purchased the assets of the old company "IFT", at a government BK auction 2 years ago. He said that customer service is there number one priority, because when you are selling $2,000 dollars heads, good referals are the only thing that count. Upon purchasing those assets it was rolled under the Empire Motors Inc name.

Currently they are producing over 60 different automotive heads that they sell. Most of their business comes from governent and private contracts for items where they do all the foundry and machine work (varous automotive and non-automotive items), but do not sell themselves. They also do alot of architectural items.

He said that after buying the assets of "IFT" they did fullfill any outstanding orders for heads that were in the system, at their loss. Remember that the previous company would have already been paid for them before they went into BK.

All in all I spoke to Ron for over an hour. He told me about the extensive machinery they have, and about the upgrades they are doing to the on site foundry equiptment.

He said that he is often asked about problems people have heard about Empire, but he said no one can give him the name of any customer that has not been completely happy with any head, manifold or other part produced by Empire. He said that any problems may have been under "IFT" mangement, and has been passed back and forth as heresay more than fact. One of the those friend, of a friend, over heard something at a car show type situations.

He did tell me that have several new heads coming out for the Packard, and they currently can have the tooling in place to produce just about any Packard head from the 1920's throught 1954.

Also they can customize the lettering on any of the heads. So if you want it to say "Packard" in script or block, or say "Edmunds", or "H/C", "H/A", "Thunderbolt", "327", etc. The cnc machine is all setup to support all those different variants.

They have also invited various car clubs down to tour their facilites. The Cat(erpiller), and Lincoln clubs have already toured. They were also involved in casting the broze plaques that were given away to the major donators that helped out with Proving Grounds restoration.

Just more food for thought for those that are interested.

I hate to see a company that is actually producing performance parts for the Packards cast in a bad light for something that may have happend under a previous owner. Kind of a blaming the son for the sins of the father I guess. Obviously if anyone has any real contradicting information, I would be glad to hear about it, and have it posted here for everyones benefit.

Big Kev, WOW ! Thanks for going the extra mile to get the lowdown on this company. What a great resource it could be for those Packard owners who want to make performance improvements. I have considered putting a twin carb set up on my 356 engine if nothing more that the Wow factor at car shows. A split exhaust manifold and dual exhausts would be neat also! Lets see.. I'll need a cam change also and maybe get Eric to fab up a twin turbo.Hmmm.... now just where am I going to find the money....?

BIGKEV: I do now and then pay a visit to the AACA forum. A thread in one of AACA main forums had a thread on this matter, about this firm within the last two weeks.

I have tried to find this thread but have had no luck. What caught my attention was that AACA left the thread go with out some type of control over what was being posted in it. They don't look kindly upon negative post made about vendors. From what I can remember there are still outstanding issues with this company that have gone unresolved. The AACA is being one of them that has a complaint filled against this company.

I am only reporting what I have read, and have no claims filed against this company, or have had any dealings with the firm. So I guess in all cases let the buyer beware.

John F. Shireman