PETER Flint is no stranger to the pages or the fans of Street Machine. We featured his big-block XW GS Falcon in SM, Jan ’07, and if you’re a fan of the burnout scene then you’ve probably been looking at the back of Flinty’s head – usually protected under a wide-brimmed straw hat – for a number of years. He’s probably covered every burnout competition at some point over the past 10 years, and his YouTube channel and website are treasure troves and historical archives of the sport.

This article was first published in the January 2020 issue of Street Machine

I first met you when we featured your XW, but these days it’s your XC ute, OLDHOON, that gets all the attention.

I bought the ute in 2008 or 2009. I still had the XW at that point, but it was sitting in a mate’s shed with no engine in it. The big-block from the XW went into the ute, after I rodded the Boss 302 engine that was originally in the ute when I purchased it. I ended up selling that combo because I did a deal for the XW – before the prices all went up, of course. I got the whole driveline that’s in the ute at the moment, plus heaps of spares and cash as well, and I’ve never seen the car since.

Tell us a bit about that combo.

It’s a 532-cube big-block Ford. It’s a standard block so it’s at it limits, but it’s had a lot of work done to the bottom end. It’s got a cast steel crank and decent rods, a set of Ford Motorsport C460 heads and a sheet-metal manifold made to suit that engine. It actually came out of a Wild Bunch car from Queensland; I believe it was a pink XY.

How much grunt is it making?

When it was dynoed with the help of BYE and Performance Carb Tuning, it made 904hp at the tyres at only 8psi of boost and 20 degrees of timing, so it’s not working hard at all.

What’s the rest of the driveline?

It’s got a built ’Glide that’s looked after by Gonzo [Simon Travaglini] at Allfast. He did a converter for it as well and it’s been brilliant. I went a season and a half without even having to change the oil in it. I just changed all the rear end; from the cab back it’s basically all brand new – new skins, new tubs, new four-link and the exhaust from the collectors back was redone to fit the 20×15 rims.

You’re also well-known for covering the burnout scene with your Flinty460 YouTube channel. When did that start up?

The channel started in early 2008, but I was filming earlier than that; I’ve even got footage on VHS tape from when Motorvation was at Burswood. I started filming from the stands [at Perth Motorplex] when the Wild Boyz were around, and shooting footage for a few of the guys. Wild Mick got me down on the track because he knew Peter Pike really well, and it just sort of snowballed from there with media access. Street Machine has got me over for the past six Summernats. It’s just a hobby that’s out of control now.

How many views and followers do you have?

I’ve just hit 60,000 subscribers and ticked over 34 million views. On average, it does about 500,000 views a month. It peaks around Motorvation and Summernats – the past two years it’s peaked over 1 million views in January and February. At the moment it’s consistently doing 600-1000 views an hour.

I’m amazed you find the time to do it, having a family and running a business.

I still do all my own editing. Some nights I’ll churn out three or four videos, but straight after the event is the busy time. I’ll normally get home at 11pm or later and usually don’t go to bed until 3am. I generally get the winner up and at least get a couple more ready, so the next morning I’ve got the runner-up, or the big fire or the wall hit ready to go. I’ve worked it out: If I’ve got three camera angles from start to finish, I can turn out two videos in an hour.