Never actually worked on one, but the 1.6 Kent engine was used in the first Pintos and Capris as well as the English Ford Cortina and was a very popular engine in its day. Of course the automotive version wouldn't have had governer so none of my books would cover that.

I would set base timing at 6º BTDC and see how it likes that, then try advancing it 2º at a time, probably not much beyond 10º-12º at the end.

Is this a crossflow engine (as the later Kent engines were) or is it derived from the early pre-crossflow Kent engine? They actually built an 1100 pre-crossflow engine (intake and exhaust manifolds on the same side of the head) for automotive use in the early '60s...