North American 1.9 CVH is 82mm bore and 88mm stroke.
One can spend $$$ porting a cvh head which does exceed flow of a totally stock untouched Zetec head.
However, the cost is high and one still has some CVH issues - camshaft/lifter lifetime, high rpm potential etc...
I like the CVH platform - in a car that came with one.
For your use I would be heavily leaning towards a Zetec build.
A mild 2 liter Zetec and perhaps a camshaft change would be miles ahead of a 1600 cvh.

Just my opinion.