Spout connector
 

So i was looking over my engine the other day, and i realized the spout connector that goes to the distributor is missing. the idle has been kinda rough lately, and it seems the car was running a bit rough overall as well. i put my friends one on and it smoothed it right out. im going to get a new one asap, but just wondering, what exactly does it do? is it vaccum related or does it adjust the timing somewhat? i wonder how it fell out.. either way ill replace it soon. just wondering exactly what it does.

You can just wire a toggle switch to it if you adjust your timing a lot. It is just a connector that joins the two wires.

With the spout out the computer can't control the timing and the timing will be whatever it is initially set at all the time.