may have solved my own question. i found placing xref on worksheet and trace/reference it to the desired floor plan or story - can set all the colors to whatever in trace/reference tool. works pretty slick and then just detach and erase the worksheet.
now to tackle title blocks from previous dwg files - found you can't attach an xref to a mater in the sheet setup. you can only place a dwg - problem - can't bind a placed dwg, only an attached one. i will try to open the dwg and save as pln and work from there.