Small block into a 4th gen V6 = expensive pain in the ass. Seriously. We're talking new steering, suspension, etc...

Spray, welcome to TR! It's good to see new faces in the GM forum. Don't mind these guys giving you flack, some of 'em drive Saturns and Grand Am's. Now, here's my two cents on the V6 F-Body.

Keep that V6 stock. I had 160k on my '96 with that 3800 Series II and it didn't eat a drop of oil. Those engines are probably some of the toughest engines that GM makes, but they're really not good on power.

I knocked the cat out of my car, not for performance, but because it was clogged. I did notice a little bit of a power increase. The car will make a neat scavenging noise too without the cat and sound pretty tough through the stock muffler. Welcome to SES light heaven afterwards though. I'd highly advise against putting a louder muffler on it too. I ran my exhaust open for a week and anything above 2000 RPM sounds like glorified rice. Below 2000 RPM it sounds real mean though

Like others said, you'll notice a speed increase off of a 3.73 gear, but the 1st gear is so short in those 5 speeds, that you'll just end up roasting tires. You could put some DR's on the car, but DR's on a V6 is just kinda corny, you know?

Just keep the thing stock and enjoy it. They're fairly comfortable, have pretty reliable A/C systems, handle well, and get decent mileage. Don't bother modding it, just save up some cash and buy an LT1 or LS1 Camaro down the road. The resale value on those V6's is low too, so you won't get your money back on any mods done to it.