In an era dominated by electric drivetrains and over-the-air software updates, one Florida teenager has built a fast-growing company around a piece of hardware many drivers barely remember: the carburetor. By treating this “obsolete” component as both a niche market and a storytelling opportunity, she has turned old-school mechanical work into a modern, social media powered business that ships rebuilt parts across the country.
Her story is not just about a clever side hustle. It is a case study in how a young entrepreneur can spot value in neglected technology, wrap it in a fresh brand, and use digital tools to scale a hands-on trade into a 21st-century operation.
Finding opportunity in “obsolete” technology
I see the heart of this business in a simple insight: what the mainstream auto industry leaves behind can become a specialty market for someone willing to learn the craft. Since the 1990s, fuel injection has largely replaced carburetors in cars and trucks, yet carburetors still power small engines, motorcycles, and older vehicles that enthusiasts keep on the road. That gap between modern manufacturing and legacy hardware created a steady demand for people who can diagnose, clean, and rebuild these devices, a demand that a teenager named Riley Schlick decided to meet.
Carburetors may look like relics compared with today’s engine control units, but they remain essential to anyone restoring a 1960s pickup, tuning a classic muscle car, or keeping a carbureted boat engine alive. According to Since the shift to fuel injection, carburetors have persisted in equipment such as lawn mowers, generators, and concrete mixers, which means there is a long tail of machines that still rely on them. By focusing on this overlooked hardware instead of competing in crowded modern repair markets, Riley positioned herself where the work is specialized, the customer base is passionate, and the competition is surprisingly thin.
From garage project to “Riley’s Rebuilds”
The company that grew from that insight, Riley’s Rebuilds, started in the most traditional way possible: in a home garage in Manatee County. Reporting on the business describes how a Manatee County teen, Riley, turned that garage into a small auto shop and then recruited friends to help as orders increased. What began as a teenager learning to tear down and clean a single carburetor evolved into a branded operation, Riley’s Rebuilds, with a workflow, pricing, and a growing backlog of customer jobs that filled the family property with incoming cores and outgoing rebuilt units…