87 gmc new guy

[dougm7233]

I apologize if I'm doing this wrong. My 87 sierra classic seems to have a thermostatic air cleaner. It has no rubberhoses going to it just the metal flap and mechanism and a little orange round thing. Is this something I should worry about? I discovered it while trying to replace vacuum hoses. I've been having trouble with my defroster sending very little hot air to the defrost vents and most of it out of the other vents. I'm also having trouble when accellerating, runs fine then then hits 2nd or 3rd and it falls on its face. Sounds like a spark knocking with the engine really lagging until I hit 30 mph + or -. Thanks in advance for any help or ideas you pass along.