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The last flatheads including 1954 (and yes in Canada we enjoyed them for an additional year so change your title to 1954 ;-) were rated 120-125 with a single OEM carb. 7.5 CR and of course weren't stroked and bored to 302 cubes so why should 160 be so difficult???
Ol Ron chime in here about relieving blocks. The opinions vary greatly on this! Ford used to relieve their blocks in the early models but stopped and I have heard a few mention for the work, received very little HP gain and along with all of this lowered the compression!
If naturally aspirated perhaps the biggest gain other than cubes and a steep hill is compression? The fellows who are selling the aftermarket camshaft told me compression is very important as well to get a GOOD camshaft to perform.
Compression and a better camshaft seems plausible because my C8CM in my 50 Mercury only has a CR of 6.8 or less and is rated at 110 HP and of course this is off the flywheel not the rear wheels.
Then there are reports of the compression ratio if too high can have a negative result as well but I don't know because I have been rolling around the streets in my Mercury for almost 40 years with only 6.8!
Next is the cylinder head debate! Some argue between EAB and EAC compared to my C8CM heads (Canadian Mercury) but seems to me Ol Ron mentioned the most important factor for pretty much ANY head is getting a clearance of .050 between the head and top of piston?
Ol Ron I haven't found your book yet and the ones I have are too radical!! I'm not attempting to build a drag strip racer but just want to warm my 255 up! My Holley 885FFC should be a bit of an advantage being a slightly larger carburetor than the 3 stud Ford?
Also another possible consideration is pop up pistons and they come in different amounts as well. Some chirp that your displacement will be reduced but in reality if the compression is increased?
The criticisms or doubts are most likely mostly speculation?
At the end of the day cleaning up obstructions in the intake and exhaust ports, increasing the compression, finding a decent camshaft, and a bit bigger carburetor will most likely do the most for a naturally aspirated engine.
Then we get to those who think slapping on an enormous carburetor/carburetors on will help but instead the engine will be grossly over carbureted!
To sum it all up on my long reply is there are many arguments and in reality we need only the ones that are least amount of work and 💰 and start from there.
Don
PS
Merry Christmas and a happy new year!