Here is a quick sound byte video showing my tercel with a 3E-E 1.5L 12 valve engine that has been modified. I modified it myself. These engines cannot be ported larger, but you can fix the cylinder heads to make them flow better by filling the intake ports with epoxy. I filled the intake bowls with expoxy to fix a severe flow restriction.
Stock bore 3E-E non turbo.
Stage III camshaft from American Custom Camshafts.
Stock valve springs, stock pistons, stock valves.
Compression ratio 10.5 - 11:1. (decked block and milled cylinder head).
Removed back flow restrictor (bump) in cylinder head between exhaust valve and intake valves to increase high RPM performance.
Rough idle at 1000rpms. Very raspy. Note the very neat and clean exhaust note. Sounds much cooler than a honda and similar to a VW engine, but even better.
This 3E-E has been running 40,000 miles now without a glitch, though I did blow the first head gasket running low octane fuel. You need to run 92 octane and be very careful with timing. With race fuel, I can dial in another 5 HP.
This 3E-E is plenty of fun and I don't want a 16 valve engine. The torque and engine response is simply amazing. It has plenty of power and it is fun to drive anywhere anytime. It was a very cheap engine to build, and the performance and sound is better than any normal 3E-E engine!
Just thought I'd share this with everyone since everyone hates the little 3E-E... Ha ha! I love my 3E-E... It has served me well and just keeps on running.
See attached video by clicking link. If you listen carefully, you'll notice the tough idle. The sound is simply music to my ears... Yes, I know that sounds crazy!
I know there are bigger and faster engines, and I don't claim to be any faster than anyone. But for the people who are short on money, this is a fun little engine! If anyone needs help, I can provide all the information you need to make your 3E-E run WAY better!
I'm sorry guys, but I absolutely love the little 3E-E for a continuous *(fuel miser) daily driver in town. I can find 10 of these engines everytime I go to the junkyard. I like cheap stuff, and this is one cheap engine. I have absolutely tried to destroy this engine for the last 40,000 miles and guess what, it still runs fine! It is not like a regular tercel, it is very fun to drive. From 1st to 2nd gear, it gets up to 55mph in the first 2 gears very quickly. If you stomp on the gas in 1st gear it does a rolling burnout from the very dramatic throttle response.
I know I know, the 3E-E is definitely not a top end performance engine, but the throttle response is very fun. It drives like a 2.0L engine. It has about 100 HP judging from the feel, which isn't a tremendous improvement, but the low end response is simply unbelievable. I love driving around town because you can simply lug it through the gears and go... So long as you are rolling, you will have throttle response! And surprisingly, the engine hits a power band at 3500rpm and takes off with a surge... The cam definitely brings these engines alive.
Bottom line is, the intake ports shouldn't be ported larger, not unless you are going to run an aftermarket ECU which goes beyon 5600 rpms! These cylinder heads flow awsome for 5600 rpms! You don't need larger holes, you need smoother holes. The stock 3E-E valve seats are too small, and they are pressed into a very large hole. The aluminum casting for the cylinder head does NOT match the tiny valve seats. You cannot grind off 1/8 or 1/4" from the metal valve seat without creating heat problems that could cause it to warp. So instead, you fill in the bowls (the area around the valve seat) - see photos above. If you do not do this, the air will smash into the back of the valve seat which is a sharp metal edge that protrudes into the air stream, this is absolutely awful!
The intake manifold on these 3E-E's is TINY. What you want to do is blue print the intake ports (match them). From the factory one cylinder may have a 1/4" chunk of metal flashing sticking out that blocks air flow. Porting everything larger is just senseless as the camshaft and the exhaust is the major restriction on these engines. The intake side is fine with plenty of flow for 5600 rpm redline. You just need to fix the ports so they are all flow evenly.
I have all stock internals (ALL STOCK)
stock pistons, stock valves, stock cam (reground with .125" more lift and 25 degrees approx more duration). see AmericanCustomCams.com for more information, they will grind the cam very well for you, mine has never went flat and the power is very good.
I took off .015" from the block (the pistons stick up out of the block).
and removed .065" from the cylinder head.
This is about 10.5 compression ratio, give or take .25
You know, if you raise compression by 1 point From 9.3:1 to 10.5:1, you get roughly a 4 or 5% power improvement, which isn't much at all. Milling the cylinder head and decking the block wasn't really necessary, but it does aid the throttle response. If I had it to do over again, I'd skip that and simply get the cam reground. The power comes from the cam... We are talking a HUGE increase in lift *(1/8 of an inch for gosh sakes) without any mods to the springs or the rocker arms, you simply re-set the valves after intalling the new camshaft and you have a more powerful engine.
I would recommend that everyone with a 3E-E gets a new custom ground camshaft if they are going to keep it for any length of time. The engine truly drives like a 16 valve, however the power is very linear but doesn't shut off in the higher revs until you actually hit the rev limiter. You would never know that it is a 12 valve by the way it revs.
Forget milling the head and block, unless you have the extra time. Just go with a new cam. For the cam grind, I used American Custom Camshafts. They have a special Stage I, II and stage III grind. I have a stage II with maximum lift, somewhat in between a stage II and a stage III. (www.americancustomcams.com). It was very cheap and has lasted for 40,000 miles. They simply regrind your stock cam and send it back - and you don't need to buy new springs - my existing springs have 140,000 miles on them total, and they are fine, with 40,000 miles being used with the higher lift cam.... So there is no need to modify anything with the new cam, it just does NOT get any cheaper!
The reason my 3E-E has so much response is pretty simple. I advanced the cam timing by about 8 degrees (advancing the cam timing makes the torque peak occur lower in the RPM range). I also milled the head and block, so the cam timing was already advanced by a few degrees, in total I might have 10 degrees of advance, which is actually a little too much because there is too much cylinder pressure, as evidenced by more pinging with the advanced cam timing with all other factors the same. I had to retard the spark timing pretty drastically after advancing my cam (of course I don't let my engine ping!!!) With my current cam timing, I'm building very high peak cylinder pressures very low down in the RPM range, and since I have more duration and more lift, I'm squeezing in a lot more air than a stock engine, and the increased compression ratio makes it even better! The combination makes the bottom end performance simply unreal for its size!
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