in the meantime can anyone post the process to check the air flow meter…
Lastly, there is a fuel vacuum switch near the fuel regulator. It was eliminated in later models. What does it do? Should I leave it be?
The air flow meter is dealt with in Bert's guide, which I think you have.
It's not a fuel vacuum switch, it's a vacuum switch. Check anyway the vacuum hose to the fuel pressure regulator, that it's not leaking, or kinked, or blocked, or partially blocked. Do these checks also for the hose to the vacuum switch.
Some people remove it because they notice no improvement in performance with it connected. With that reasoning you could remove a wheel nut and throw it in the bin, there would be no drop in performance but after a few years the disc might develop a warp. It might not warp either, but why bother second guessing the engineer's who designed it that way? It's not meant to improve performance, it's there to improve fuel economy, reduce pollution etc, mainly while cruising. They have put it there for a reason, so I think leave it connected.
At higher vacuum you want to advance the ignition timing because it takes longer for the detonation to complete in these situations. You can use an LED test light to check that it sends a signal to the ignition control unit, from memory I think it only sends a signal at part throttle. You could use a timing gun to check that the computer is altering the timing. I guess no one has done that yet on this forum. There might even be a drop in revs if it is plugged to remove the signal while cruising.