8n started sputtering-hesitating

Sounds like governor, but here's a quick test: Discannect the governor-to-carb linkage and start her up. Manually work the carb throttle with your hand. If rpms respond quickly to your movements, then either the governor needs rebuilding or your linkage is binding somewhere.

Now, as to the sputtering/running rough, I'm not convinced your sparks are correct. When you said you "checked spark" did you actually check point gap and condition? Rotor integrity? Dist cap lobe burning? Plug fouling/gap? Little copper grounding strip and its insulator? Dist shaft play? Etc? Chigger (my '50 B-model) needs points check after every 10 hours or so of run time or 50 starts.

If above is all fine ('cause you checked each) AND manually working the throttle solved the rpm problem, you have a fuel supply/mixture problem. Can be clogged fuel filters (there are 3 of them to check), carb settings/crud, or leak in manifold.

Yep, you can do a tune-up yourself. I do recommend that you buy a Ford I&T 04 manual though. Great reference.

This is one of those times I'd like to be able to "beam" myself over to show you exactly what to do. But, I'll walk you through it when you determine what I ask for below.

First, realize that the 1950 model 8Ns switched from front mount to angle (side) mount distributors in mid 1950. You and I need to know which it is. If your coil is a separate canister from your distributor and your distributor cap looks like a normal 5-nipple one, you have a side mount distributor and it has a different tune-up procedure than a front mount. Let us know which it is. Since you are not familiar with tune-ups on these, I'm even more convinced your rough running problem is tune-up related.

On the governor test, to remove the linkage, note that the ends of the linkage are spring loaded so you have to slide the ends outward in order for the little ball on the carb to come out of the linkage.

After I was done with the test, I re-adjusted the jets on the carb as described in a post by ZANE from 9/7/01 in reply to a post by Brian in Indy "Idle Adjustment Needle" from 9/6/01. This really helped the sputtering and hesitation problem I was having before. However, I took her for a quick spin up the road and with the throttle wide open and traveling in 3rd gear, the engine still sputters a little. Does this mean that I just need to adjust one of the carb needles some more? Would that be the main jet? It got dark before I could do any more with her tonight. Any more suggestions will be welcome.
Thanks again,
Rich in Utah