just bought an 8n like the one i drove when growing up. the clutch pedal is harder to push down than what I remember. could that be of dirt or rust in the linkage? also, the tachometer shows about twice as many rpms than it should. Could the tach be from a thousand series ford?

Just my 2 cents….. I have yet to see a proof meter that was accurate especially the aftermarket ones. I put a new aftermarket on my Jubilee during restoration and all it did was read about twice as high, which means it also put twice as many hours on the hour meter so I sent it back. I got another one and it did the same thing so I just left it on there.
As concerned your clutch, several things could be wrong, but if it works then just using it will probably loosen it up some.
Walt/Tx