I have seen some reasonably priced headers on eBay that look pretty good.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Empire-Performance-Toyota-SW20-MR2-3sge-performance-extractors-headers-/171194364800
 
Has anyone bought or installed these before?
Are there any installation issues, such as losing the heat shield?
 
I have a 91 Australian delivered 3sge na. Will these give me any performance gains over stock?
 
The Empire headers are 4 into 1. What are the pros or cons compared to a 4-2-1 design?
 
Thanks
 

Very short primary runners. I doubt you'll see much gain if any. The stock headers aren't completely crap.

4-1 headers normally have long primaries and would all come together under the car if space or at least just before the bend.

Like most things Ebay, you might find they are "cheaper" but also a lot more prone to cracking than branded ones.

I have an Empire Performance turbo back and the build quality is top notch and I honestly couldnt be happier with it. They were also great to deal with and knowledgable on application. If you are to go with these guys, I dont think you will be disappointed. 

There done here in Perth, it doesn't meant that by any means are they "top quality" it's just another cheap mass produced part and to be perfectly honest, after seeing the quality of some of the welds on one of the Mx5 headers that were purchased by a friend of mine, I was reluctant to install for him, he saw a 2hp gain...

It doesn't say whether they are for the Gen 2 or Gen 3 3SGE (different head ports)
 
The stock gen 3 system actually is 4 into 1 so those headers may be for Gen 3 anyway.
A 4-2-1 system would suit your motor better.
 
Other issues:
With those headers you would also need to custom fab a bracket to stay the bottom of the primary pipes to the block, otherwise the engine head manifold studs will have to carry the weight of the whole system. 
Loosing the heat shield will mean the engine bay runs a lot hotter that means your intake manifold will also run hotter, loosing power, and from what I have read, loosing the stock exhaust system lagging shields will also loose you power.
 
 

for heat reduction best to get them ceramic coated not cheap around $200 but i personly think its worth it

Reddtarga
It doesn't say whether they are for the Gen 2 or Gen 3 3SGE (different head ports)
 
The stock gen 3 system actually is 4 into 1 so those headers may be for Gen 3 anyway.
A 4-2-1 system would suit your motor better.
 

Sure? Thought gen3 is 4-2-1 still.

Pics on toyodiy suggest so.

best off going to an exhaust shop with a used set of stock headers, and have them make you a custom built 2/2.25inch equal length runners into a 2.25 b pipe and into a 2.5 inch highflow ca and cat back tbh.

just_ace

Reddtarga
It doesn't say whether they are for the Gen 2 or Gen 3 3SGE (different head ports)
 
The stock gen 3 system actually is 4 into 1 so those headers may be for Gen 3 anyway.
A 4-2-1 system would suit your motor better.
 

Sure? Thought gen3 is 4-2-1 still.

Pics on toyodiy suggest so.

I believe you are correct. My mistake.
I had seen other aftermarket headers for the Gen3 3gse that were 4 into one.