I am going to be running an inlet with both larger lift and longer duration. And I am going to be using bodies with the standard ECU. I am thinking its going to be easier to map without the complication of VCT
To be honest, the VCT is one of the strong points of the 1.7 engine, and I wouldn't bother getting rid of it. An ECU remap wouldn't be any more difficult with them there, and I really think that you'd be creating unnecessary work by removing it.
This is a very difficult route to go down. I have been there and done it.
Answering an earlier post, the vvt has EVERYTHING to do with the pulley. The VVT solenoid moves up or down internally to allow oil to either pass back through into the head, OR into the pulley. It is when the oil goes into the pulley that it will advance the internals (attached to the camshaft) independantly of the external of the pulley (attached to the belt)
Now, to remove it.
You will obviously need a blanking plate for the large hole the solenoid sits in. There are 3 hols in the side of the head behind the pulleys that bolt the solenoid in, blank these off. On the end of the inlet camshaft, there is a removable bearing/cap that has the oil feeds for the pulley, they need blocking. There is then a hole underneath where the inlet camshaft leaves the head (behind the pulley at the bottom) to be blanked off.
From there, the head is sealed!!
You then need to engineer a spacer, as a normal exhaust pulley (which works) will sit out of align with the exhaust cam pulley. Good Luck!!