Problem solved, see post #23 
Before I say all this, I want to ask that you experienced mechanics/gearheads don't make fun of me or give me a hard time, please. I like to tinker and fix things around the house, and I've assisted on a few tune ups & oil changes in my younger days (back when the coolest cars had holley 4-barrel carbs and mag wheels lol). Anyways, I set my mind to learning to do my own oil change on my 1LT. My neighbor helped. I drove it up on ramps and chocked it, put the drain pan under, took out the plug, let the oil drain, reinstalled the plug, replaced factory oil filter with K&N, put in 6 quarts of mobil 1 5w-30 and replaced air filter with K&N. I ordered the filters from Advance to make sure I got the right ones. Checked for leaks. Started her up and there's a kindof vibration. Actually, more like it's idling "stronger", smooth still, but stronger. Before I changed the oil/oil filter/air filter you could barely feel the engine rotations at idle, now you can feel clearly feel them. I took it for a test drive and it seems to run fine, just those vibrations are different (still no leaks either). Could that be the difference in the air filter? The only thing I can think that I could possibly have done wrong is the insertion of the oil filter. I put the male end of the filter cap into the female hole in the gasket and pushed the filter up snug to the cap (I didn't see it being taken out for reference, and my neighbor had to go take a call). Is that correct? Also, while typing this I remember having watched a video of an oil change and the guy lubed the oil filter gasket before insertion, and I forgot to do that. Is that okay or do I need to drain the oil, take it out and lube it? Any info would sooooo appreciated. I really want to learn to do this myself without killing my car.
p.s. Does anyone know the normal operating temp for the 1LT V6? I don't have gauges that shows whether the car is running hot, just the computer that tells me the coolant temp (yeah, I know it has a light that comes on if it overheats, but I'd like to know before it gets to that point). I also don't have an oil pressure gauge. I don't particularly care for the 4 pack gauges, but the oil pressure would come in handy right now.
p.p.s. sorry this is so long, I just wanted to try and include all the info I could. Thanks again... you guys are great!
