Do you think the gas prices will rise $2 per gallon after the hurricane hits tonight? I heard CNN is predicting $5/gallon prices :eek: :bonkers:

Katrina saw them rise $.70 then drop off to a $.25 increase, please explain to me how this could magnify the effect 3 fold- the media is selling on doom and gloom...

I cant explain how it would effect it that much. Thats why I was wondering what you guys thought about that, I just posted what I heard.

Time to pull the old bicycle out of the shed... :histeric:

i think its just publicity they just want people hooked on the tv watching the gas prices

The Katrina storm effected prices drastically here as well. The Texas storm will likely wipe out several refineries and limit production, thus increasing prices. Many countries, including Canada have begun to increase output to help offset the increase in prices, but this is getting ridiculous already, and I have to buy premium!

I bet this will have a lot of people thinking twice about driving to the corner store when they could just walk in the first place...

I feel this fits better in the lounge, Might get a good discusion out of it.

I feel this fits better in the lounge, Might get a good discusion out of it.

Since when did you become a moderator? :ripped: J/K

The gas probably won't hit the $5.00 mark, but it is likely to increase to post-Katrina levels for another few weeks.

Also, last I checked, Rita was downgraded to a cat. 4 storm. I'll check again real quick and see where the wet bitch is at...To the TV to check the weather...

I highly doubt the $5 mark. Yes, of course they will rise, but that much? No way. Looks like we're going to get a bit of Rita down here.

Basically the media is trying to inflate the story to make people watch. If it does hit $5/gallon, I guess I will..........pay it! I'm pretty sure that we won't even see $4/gallon, possibly $3, but definetly not $5.

Pay it, grin it, bear it!

here’s my 2 cents, there’s no shortage of crude, we have our own refineries up here, I live within 5 miles in Pittsburgh of 3 of them, so why in the hell would this effect us, and after a hurricane don’t ya think the demand drops quite a bit? I mean look at new Orleans, all of those vehicles are under water, most to be never driven again, lmfao, I love my country but fear my government, the media is working the front for the oil co's, to see what the countries reaction is to the possibility, CALL IT MARKET RESEARCH. They have these gas prices so screwed up, by the time things do settle everyone will be happy to pay $3 a gallon, lmfao that’s double what it was 1 1/2 years ago.

The only way this country is ever going to be right again is to have a revolution, but everyone’s too much of a p#ssy for that to happen.



Iraq



Hurricanes



230 billion dollar highway bill



Equals, if we stay on this track were going to become 3rd world, were already flooded with immigrants.



My 2 cents worth, anyone want to give me change?

Basically the media is trying to inflate the story to make people watch. If it does hit $5/gallon, I guess I will..........pay it! I'm pretty sure that we won't even see $4/gallon, possibly $3, but definetly not $5.

Pay it, grin it, bear it!

Apparently with the selection of cars you have, you can afford to say "Pay it, grin it, bear it" without a second thought to the vast majority of those out there who are strapped for cash and can do nothing other than drive to and from work. Unfortunately, many people just can't grin and bear it like those who have the cash for the gas.

That aside, I too agree that $5.00 will never be seen with this storm, and the spike, if any, will not be as bad as some are making it out to be. The spike will also be temporary.

Apparently with the selection of cars you have, you can afford to say "Pay it, grin it, bear it" without a second thought to the vast majority of those out there who are strapped for cash and can do nothing other than drive to and from work. Unfortunately, many people just can't grin and bear it like those who have the cash for the gas.

That aside, I too agree that $5.00 will never be seen with this storm, and the spike, if any, will not be as bad as some are making it out to be. The spike will also be temporary.

KUDOS!!!!!!!!!!!

and its the ones who piss the money away who dont have it forever!

I honestly dont like to buy a car or spend money if it isnt going to MAKE me money

There was a report on Yahoo that said they won't stay high long. When it hit 3 bucks, the demand for gasoline went down 30%. I have a car that gets 30 MPG on regular, has decent power and it is a rag top :cool:. Why do you have to run premium?!? I run regular in the Northstar, so I know the 4.9 will do fine on it.

my 1990 4.5 ran like sh!t on regular. for the 20 cents difference i just run the premium myself. 20 cents isnt a big enough savings for me, and id probably get worse mileage, its the freaking double price from a year and a half ago that has me outraged, THIS IS ALL AFFILIATED WITH THE WAR, THE GOVT JUST WONT ADMIT IT.

Time for Econ 101...

Why do you have to run premium?!? I run regular in the Northstar, so I know the 4.9 will do fine on it.

My 4.9 lacks a knock sensor, the newer Northstars have them like on my Dad's 2003 DTS and he runs regular just fine. If I don't run premium my engine knocks like Mike Tyson in the ring.

My 4.9 lacks a knock sensor, the newer Northstars have them like on my Dad's 2003 DTS and he runs regular just fine. If I don't run premium my engine knocks like Mike Tyson in the ring.:want::cycle: lmfao that was funny

If you're going to run premium in the 4.9 liter, then you might as well advance the timing 3 degrees and get the benefits of better fuel mileage and performance from the advanced timing.

I also doubt it.

Just looking at some numbers over at the New York Mercantile Exchange. they are not as high right now as when Katrina hit. Traders are usually pretty quick to pick up on this and they will be the first to panic. Well, they havn't been paniking, so I'm not worried.

It's just a major over-reaction on their part.

CNN is odd.

When Katrina hit and left, they said New Orleans was spared from destruction and that everything was going to be okay. Now, Rita is offshore as a Cat4 and they act like the world is ending.

I guess no one watches the news when there's nothing bad going on, so you have to drum something up.

im seeeing on the exchange that natural gas prices are double what they were last year. im not so worried about putting gas in the car as i am worried about taking a 50-80% increase on heating my home and office.

there’s no shortage of crude, we have our own refineries up here, I live within 5 miles of 3 refineries, so why in the hell would this effect us, and after a hurricane don’t ya think the demand drops quite a bit? I mean look at new Orleans, all of those vehicles are under water, most to never be driven again, I love my country but fear my government, the media is working the front for the oil co's, to see what the countries reaction is to the possibility, CALL IT MARKET RESEARCH.

They have these gas prices so screwed up, by the time things do settle everyone will be happy to pay $3 a gallon, lmfao that’s double what it was 1 1/2 years ago. and natural gas and heating oil is going to be rediculous, better start savin now, i bet some of us can look to add @ least 50% to our home heating bills this winter.

Talk about getting hit over the head, :thepan:

As for oil and gas production, these refineries are directly in the forecasted path:

Baytown plant, 550,000 barrels per day+
BP at Texas City, 440,000 bpd
Valero at Texas City, 210,000 bpd
Premcor, Port Arthur, 255,000 bpd
Valero, Corpus Christi, 142,000 bpd
Citgo, Corpus Christi, 156,000 bpd
FHR, Corpus Christi, 288,000 bpd

These are refineries that could be directly affected and taken offline or to reduced capacity by this storm.

We don't have much of a crude shortage as we do a refinery shortage. If the worst happens and all these refineries are taken offline we will indeed be paying WELL over $3, possibly into the $4 range. It's possible prices could hit in the near $5 range right as the storm hits but I doubt it would stay at that range for more than a couple of days.

I filled up yesterday at 2.62. Today it's 2.79 and the storm is still a day away from hitting.

If you're going to run premium in the 4.9 liter, then you might as well advance the timing 3 degrees and get the benefits of better fuel mileage and performance from the advanced timing.

What do I bump it to, to be able to run regular? Don't you do that?


So where is the storm now??? What's happening?

What do I bump it to, to be able to run regular? Don't you do that?


So where is the storm now??? What's happening?

Last i saw it had slowed down in speed and was only 125mph. Those people over there should be thanking there lucky stars for that. It has moved over just a little and will be hitting right near Texas/Louisiana border.

im seeeing on the exchange that natural gas prices are double what they were last year. im not so worried about putting gas in the car as i am worried about taking a 50-80% increase on heating my home and office.

One advantage of living in Arizona is that I rarely have to heat my condo. Winter time it's usually 75F in the daytime, and at night I just put an extra blanket on! I would hate to be somewhere that it gets too cold in winter.

Gee, the media forecasting doom or drama... Oh yea, they've been doing that for as long as I can remember... Y2k bug... Clinton "scandal"... Enron... Every hurricane that comes towards the US... N Korea gets nukes... Pam and Tommy Lee tapes... Martha Stewart in jail... It's the same panic attempts, different day. The number of times I've heard the ads for the news "Something you use every day, could be poisoning your kids. Find out what, tonight at 6." Look, ands it's like kids eating batteries. As Carlos Mencia puts it, Deet dee dee.
Yea, Katrina ws a cat 4 almost 5 when it hit, major wreck, but lets see... You have a city, surrounded by water, below water level, a city that has pumps going all the time, to keep it from flooding, and you're surprised that when a bad storm comes, it floods? DDDDUUUUUHHHHH!!!! Same with Galveston coming up... It's near the beach, and below the water line. Not to be rude, but I'll laugh when everyone's left, the area floods, and people act shocked that it flooded. I know, some people will yell at me for being harsh, or point out that I live in FL, and shouldn't be surprised when a hurricane damages my house. Guess what? I'm not surprised when that happens. I build a house inland, high enough for the state that flooding is minimal risk, and I build it strong enough to handle the winds. Shutters, and proper preparations, and guess what? I can stay in my house during a Cat1-3, without any concerns. For a 4 or 5, I move to the barn at my old place. It's built to handle Andrew or worse. Designs and planning idicate it should take on 200 mph winds. It's called planning and accepting responsibility for having the hubris to live in a hurricane rich enviornment. Rant over... didnt mean to get into one, but ah well.

What do I bump it to, to be able to run regular? Don't you do that?


So where is the storm now??? What's happening?

In all honesty Ralph, bumping the timing will provide better fuel economy, but at the expense of premium. It's probably the better option if you like the performance. I don't think that retarding the timing will make fuel economy any worse, but you'll notice that the performance is lacking...In a big way. If you want to get away with regular gas, I would retard the timing about 2 degrees from the stock 10 degrees BTDC, setting timing to 8 degrees BTDC...Try that and see if there is knock/ping running 87 octane. If there is ping, try 89 octane.

By the way, I do not run with my timing retarded; I run with it advanced. The fuel economy on my car since I've been driving slower (mostly, ignore "Kill" section :D ) runs around 18 mpg, primarily city driving. That's also without the MSD.

Oh yea, $5 for gas... I doubt it'll happen, but this might convince a few more areas to try mass transit. Might also convince a few econuts with huge costs for everything, that maybe a few additional power sources might be a good idea.

In all honesty Ralph, bumping the timing will provide better fuel economy, but at the expense of premium. It's probably the better option if you like the performance. I don't think that retarding the timing will make fuel economy any worse, but you'll notice that the performance is lacking...In a big way. If you want to get away with regular gas, I would retard the timing about 2 degrees from the stock 10 degrees BTDC. It will become 8 degrees BTDC...Try that and see if there is knock running 87 octane. If there is ping, try 89 octane.

Thanks I'll let you know if I decide to do it, and I'll remember the advice. :thumbsup:

Gee, the media forecasting doom or drama... Oh yea, they've been doing that for as long as I can remember... Y2k bug... Clinton "scandal"... Enron... Every hurricane that comes towards the US... N Korea gets nukes... Pam and Tommy Lee tapes... Martha Stewart in jail... It's the same panic attempts, different day. The number of times I've heard the ads for the news "Something you use every day, could be poisoning your kids. Find out what, tonight at 6." Look, ands it's like kids eating batteries. As Carlos Mencia puts it, Deet dee dee.
Yea, Katrina ws a cat 4 almost 5 when it hit, major wreck, but lets see... You have a city, surrounded by water, below water level, a city that has pumps going all the time, to keep it from flooding, and you're surprised that when a bad storm comes, it floods? DDDDUUUUUHHHHH!!!! Same with Galveston coming up... It's near the beach, and below the water line. Not to be rude, but I'll laugh when everyone's left, the area floods, and people act shocked that it flooded. I know, some people will yell at me for being harsh, or point out that I live in FL, and shouldn't be surprised when a hurricane damages my house. Guess what? I'm not surprised when that happens. I build a house inland, high enough for the state that flooding is minimal risk, and I build it strong enough to handle the winds. Shutters, and proper preparations, and guess what? I can stay in my house during a Cat1-3, without any concerns. For a 4 or 5, I move to the barn at my old place. It's built to handle Andrew or worse. Designs and planning idicate it should take on 200 mph winds. It's called planning and accepting responsibility for having the hubris to live in a hurricane rich enviornment. Rant over... didnt mean to get into one, but ah well.

You're 100% correct. Look at the Orient. They have typhoons that are far worse than Atlantic-spawned hurricanes and it's like another part of the day for them when one hits. They go inside for a few hours while the storms hit, drink, eat, and do whatever, then back to the joust.

In all honesty Ralph, bumping the timing will provide better fuel economy, but at the expense of premium. It's probably the better option if you like the performance. I don't think that retarding the timing will make fuel economy any worse, but you'll notice that the performance is lacking...In a big way. If you want to get away with regular gas, I would retard the timing about 2 degrees from the stock 10 degrees BTDC, setting timing to 8 degrees BTDC...Try that and see if there is knock/ping running 87 octane. If there is ping, try 89 octane.

By the way, I do not run with my timing retarded; I run with it advanced. The fuel economy on my car since I've been driving slower (mostly, ignore "Kill" section :D ) runs around 18 mpg, primarily city driving. That's also without the MSD.
im also on the advanced timing ....gets beatter mileage ....nuff said ...the decrese in milage running reatrded timing offsets the cost savings ...

all this goes out the window soon ....im shopping for an engine block next week :bouncy:

gas prices are holding here. wont be suprised if this is where they settle for the winter.

im also on the advanced timing ....gets beatter mileage ....nuff said ...the decrese in milage running reatrded timing offsets the cost savings ...

all this goes out the window soon ....im shopping for an engine block next week :bouncy:

Engine block? What in the Hell did you do to Gladys' 4.9 liter heart?


gas prices are holding here. wont be suprised if this is where they settle for the winter.

I really hope they don't settle above the $2.50 per gallon mark for the winter, although mileage seems better for me during that time. And as far as my local gas prices, they've already raised $.20 in a four hour time period! Jackasses!!! :mad2:

i hope not too. if it does, i dont think we will ever see it go down, look at milk for gods sake. freaking doubled in a year and a half. i bought a 5 gal of oil stain, same stuff i bought last year for a similar project, cost is double. this is an excuse to raise the cost of everything, keep in mind the impact on the trucking industry, and the role that the industry clearly plays in the US economy. there are very heavy politics involved here, they know exactly what they are doing.

God Bless America!!! :mad:

i hope not too. if it does, i dont think we will ever see it go down, look at milk for gods sake. freaking doubled in a year and a half. i bought a 5 gal of oil stain, same stuff i bought last year for a similar project, cost is double. this is an excuse to raise the cost of everything, there are very heavy politics involved here, they know exactly what they are doing.

God Bless America!!! :mad:

Yup. They're indoctrinating complacencey into the the minds of American consumers. Raise a price by a nickel here, raise a price by a dime there, and then you have a formula for people to purchase without blinking twice.

The other thing is that people don't seem to be making any more money to combat the growing cost of goods. An example of this would be that I'm in the cleaning business, for which I've done for several years off and on. Before my enlistment into the Army, a general cleaner (I'm slightly above that level) would get an average of $7.50 on the hour for a new hire. Today, they are strarting general cleaners out at, get this, $7.50 an hour. Yet the cost of fueling a car 8 years ago was done in the $1.00 per gallon range! Today, the person who is making the same wage offered 8 years ago is paying triple for a gallon of gas...Is it any wonder why some people out there might be struggling to get by?

Engine block? What in the Hell did you do to Gladys' 4.9 liter heart?




I really hope they don't settle above the $2.50 per gallon mark for the winter, although mileage seems better for me during that time. And as far as my local gas prices, they've already raised $.20 in a four hour time period! Jackasses!!! :mad2:
well , esp after todays events , im very deterimed to build a engine for her ...i will build it , i want a block for now to get started , then get the .30 over sleves , prolly go with northstar pistons , and run the GM bearings and rods for everything else....then ill decide what i want to do for heads , im thinking about going with allante heads and manifolds , id like to have the heads ported n polished perhaps deck a little depending on the compression i want, and have the allante manifold extrude honed ...then find a way to lighten the valvetrain a bit and see what i can do about a camshaft ....the rest i want stock 94-95 4.9 stuff ...oh and run the stock setup for fuel injection and everything from the 94 deville ....last thing i would need is computer issues , itd be nice to make sure the PCM thinks evrything is stock

well , esp after todays events , im very deterimed to build a engine for her ...i will build it , i want a block for now to get started , then get the .30 over sleves , prolly go with northstar pistons , and run the GM bearings and rods for everything else....then ill decide what i want to do for heads , im thinking about going with allante heads and manifolds , id like to have the heads ported n polished perhaps deck a little depending on the compression i want, and have the allante manifold extrude honed ...then find a way to lighten the valvetrain a bit and see what i can do about a camshaft ....the rest i want stock 94-95 4.9 stuff ...oh and run the stock setup for fuel injection and everything from the 94 deville ....last thing i would need is computer issues , itd be nice to make sure the PCM thinks evrything is stock

See if you can run an Allante PCM.

By the way, does the Allante run a MAF or a MAP sensor?

hmm , you know i need to check on that ...

id rather have the deville pcm , that way the clutster doesnt go apeshit .....ill just get that chip that removes the speed limiter from it and call it a day

sounds like you are opening a can of worms, you know good northstars are available on ebay for less that $500. just get the vin code you want for the 275 or 300 horse model. i recently saw an older custom s-10 pickup equipped with one. that thing had to move pretty good. hope this is helpful, i was astounded at the parts on ebay for northstars. major components

makeing the 4.9s ecu communicate with the northstar would be harder ....

its acutally very strightforward , in fact its easier to run the allante manifold if your running the heads from a allante also , as the coolant passages will match

the hardest part fo the whole gig is getting the parts here , and finding a place where i can put it together in a perfectly clean enviroment (im weird i know)

Sleeving? Trying to figure out if its MAP or MAF based? Hmm... you wouldnt have happened to have found a new use for that turbo kit, have ya??

heheh , no im still selling off that kit .....i ecided i wont go turbo on this one , but rather a good strong 4.x engine.....perhaps ill use the turbo notes illumina will make for a fiero project ive been wanting to do

makeing the 4.9s ecu communicate with the northstar would be harder ....

its acutally very strightforward , in fact its easier to run the allante manifold if your running the heads from a allante also , as the coolant passages will match

the hardest part fo the whole gig is getting the parts here , and finding a place where i can put it together in a perfectly clean enviroment (im weird i know)


I know what you mean on the clean enviroment. I am renting a garage that still has a pebble and dirt floor :bomb: But for the price, I can work around that. I rebuilt my 4.5 liter engine on my mother's back patio! It's thus far a very good rebuid...But while I was doing so, I took every step to ensure that it was the cleanest rebuild I could have done with that enviroment.

As for the 4.9 liter PCM running a Northstar engine, it ain't going to happen. The firing order on the Northstar is a whole different monster and the 4.9 liter firing order (standard GM firing order) would unbalnace the whole thing. The 4.9 liter PCM also doesn't have the right calibrations to run the DIS that the Northstar runs let alone the knock sensors and the MAF sensor as opposed to the MAF sensor. I think that the PCM issues are the biggest problems that many hot-rodders using the Northstar are facing: not many can be calibrated tNorthstar easily.