I'm doing a top end rebuild on my Uncle/Cousin's 53 NAA. It started running like crap after they overheated it. I found the insides of the distributor were ugly. Fixed that still ran like crap, but started. Turned out # 2 and #3 had zero compression, head gasket went between them. Surprised it ran on 2 cylinders.
We had a machinist go through the head. It also was found to have a rotted manifold (hole in ex side), hole in radiator, and bad selenoid. I've got all the parts just need to find time when cousin can help with the work. Tractor is in good shape overall and worth fixing right. They have new JDs, but that Ford is great for raking/tedding hay.