when doing a fwi i have heard that the
canister is removed from the fw...
what is this canister and what does it do..?

The canister that needs to be relocated is the charcoal or evap canister. It is located in the driverside fender. By moving it, this provides a nice precut whole for the new tubing to pass through and air outside of the engine bay available.

where is it usually relocated too!!
this means the pcm will have to be
relocated to.. is there a preferred spot
for this also..

Many get a PCM tray that mounts close by. Say next ot the hole. The cannister has been relocated to the other side, or merely next to the hole.

hmm, i may have to do a FWI.
it seems like the way to go instead
of building a box around the -hai-
is there a donw side to the FWI?
it seems like the best option...

I've always said that a FWI on a bonneville is your best bet.

Anyone have pics of where they relocated their charcoal canister to?

Of the few 96-99 FWI installs I have seen, I have never seen a good reply to where the charcoal can was moved to.

Thanks Looks like a clean install

Clean until the first big puddle.