You are pretty much completely WRONG. Running higher octane gas than the engine requires does nothing except cost more money. If your engine is running hotter than normal operating temp it will raise the NOx emissions and likely make you fail. Changing the thermostat to a higher opening temp will also raise combustion chamber temps and raise NOx. Setting the timing to 8 degrees will also hurt emissions since it should be around double that.
Fronomo, if you have an emissions test that's anything like CA that motor won't pass no matter what you do. You should check to see if it's legal to install an engine that is older than your car first of all because if you do that out here it's an automatic fail even if it does pass emissions.