My understanding was that the variable timing becomes moot after a cam kit. Not sure if it's that way for the 6's but know that's the case for the afm model 8's
No such thing as a dumb question (most of the time, not this time though), but no, that is not the case. AFM and VVT/cam phasing are two completely different things.
AFM = displacement on demand - i.e. shutting down cylinders when not in use. There is no AFM on the Alloytecs.
VVT = changing the valve timing by advancing or retarding the cam relative to the crank. There are a few different ways to do this, but there is no VVT on Aussie LS engines.
The cam phasers in the Alloytec are essential to the timing system as the timing chain attaches directly to them. They're actuated hydraulically by engine oil fed into the phaser, so if you were to delete them you'd need to replace them with a solid gear that has no oil cavities inside (otherwise I think the phaser would "slap" and destroy itself) - see the cam gear on an LE0 exhaust cam compared to it's intake. There's two "sides" to the phaser that the oil sits in between, one side attaches to the cam and the other to the chain. Then different amounts of oil are fed into or removed from the phaser to increase or decrease the distance between those two sides and move the cam back and forth. This video does a way better job at showing how it works:
There's also no reason to remove VVT in almost any case either unless there's a design flaw with the VVT system - a lot of early VVT systems wear out super quickly with higher lift and duration cams, the first gen SR20 VCT is known for this as it has a large mechanical component instead of being purely hydraulic. Other than that there are very few circumstances where it's not a benefit, even in drag racing and even with aftermaket cams.
Infact I do believe there are factory LS VVT cams (amazingly for an OHV engine), but none of them made an appearance in Australia. You can definitely buy aftermarket ones though. There is a good Motortrend article about them, with some pictures to give you an idea of how similar it would be to the V6, but with a single cam obvs:
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1808-advantages-of-vvt-cam-in-gen-iv-v-engine
There are also aftermarket cams you can get that still retain the AFM, but AFM has a few limitations for people looking for power, and the cam itself requires extra R&D and machining to make, so isn't super attractive for aftermarket manufacturers. Most people just remove AFM completely anyway for obvious reasons.
Does raise the question though, if you swapped the engine and did nothing else but unplug the exhaust VVT solenoids like in post #2, I wonder what position the phasers would sit in and if the unplugged sensor just let oil into and out of them arbitrarily or uncontrolled.
