engine/timing belt conclusion

well thanks for all those who posted up a logical opinion regarding my situation. after my mechanic put in the new timing belt & water pump they still found my car to countinue to shake. after doing more research on the issue they finally realized that it was distributor that was the cause of all my problems. B. Deuce was right all along. when i first posted up this situation he said that my distributor could be my problem. so thanks man. what my mechanic did was replace my old distributor with a used one. we took it for a spin and my car ran smooth and it did not shake while idle. to confirm this they put back my old distributor and we went for a test drive and sure enough the shaking persisted. so what i did was purchased the used distributor cuz there was no sense in me investing $250 for a new one especially when i am gonna sell the car later in the year to an employee. i got my car back last night and it ran smooth as if it was new. the bad news was that i had to go back to work! i mean i can actually feel it run alot better. but i still have a few questions. should i break my new timing belt in before i assume regular driving habits like driving on the freeway alot? i typically use octane 89 gas for my car. should i switch to a higher ocatane from now on? also, my friend said that bosch platnium sparks are not good for japanese cars. he said that NGK sparks are much better since all toyota's & honda"s use them. is this true? Lastly, i failed my smog check in 2003. i was regarded as a gross pollutant since my car failed the 0-35mph test. what can i do to correct this so that i can pass this year?

[Toysrme]

Glad it runs now!
Car belts do not stretch, so there is 0 break in.

87 octane is what the engine was made for. Higher gasoline does not enhance performance, tho might contain more cleaning agents. (Either way the insides will look crappy... Family car engines never make enough heat to burn deposites out.)

Your friend is correct. Stick with Denso, or NGK spark plugs. Anything else will probably run pretty crappy.

i was regarded as a gross pollutant since my car failed the 0-35mph test. what can i do to correct this so that i can pass this year?

Find out the cause.
1) Does your EGR system work?
2) Is your cat convertor functioning?