vacuum advance/retard

well i have an 87 intake manifold and b on my 88 accord, dont ask. later in the year i will be swapping the entire engine out of my 89 into the 88. until then i want the car to run good, and i can hear a miss every now and then at idle and when i rev it up and let it drop quickley it sounds like it is going to backfire. i believe that the vacuum wireing on the car is f*cked, its running an 87 tb of 88 solinoids and stuff, its just shit. so i was wondering if i could disable the vacuum advance retard function by capping off lines or watever. also, could someone explain the whole theory and proccess behind advancing your timing. i have a few bolt on mods and varions things, no cam yet. also, i believe the engine is running rich, heh fancey that the wrong intake manifold, ie my plugs are black in like a couple minutes. any help there would be useful too. remember to consider that some parts of my car are 88 and some 87, so this is gonna be a fun fix.............

peace

fussell