If you don’t know Riley Schlick, you’re probably not on social media. The story of the owner of Riley’s Rebuilds went viral over the summer of 2022. For those who don’t know, Riley is a 17-year-old soccer-playing gearhead who has taken the aftermarket by storm — whether she meant to or not — by rebuilding Edelbrock carburetors. She went viral after a post she made looking for extra carburetor parts. The story is quite incredible!
Like many others in the social media realm, we were excited to see a member of the younger generation wanting to get involved in the automotive industry. So, just before her school year got started, she and her father were invited to the Edelbrock Group headquarters to tour the facilities. While here, we took the opportunity to learn more about the ambitious 17-year-old to find out what motivated her to get into the business of rebuilding carburetors. We discovered that this bright and well-rounded young lady has quite the story about how it started, why Edelbrock carbs are her favorite, and where she’s heading in life.
In the Beginning
Riley’s story into the automotive world began when she approached her dad to tell him she wanted her first car. At just 13 years of age, she knew she wanted something cool. She wanted to be “that kind of car girl,” according to Riley. She told her dad that she didn’t just want a car, but she wanted to learn on a car she could build alongside him.
“I want it all. I want all the boys to look at me and be like, ‘she built her car; that’s a car girl!’ And he said ‘Okay, but I’m not paying for it. How are you going to get the money?’ And that was my first real realization about money in the car industry.”
Choosing The Hustle
Declining to let her get a job at Publix, her dad set her on the path of starting a side hustle instead. Directing her to browse the garage for ideas, she picked an Edelbrock carburetor off a shelf and asked her dad about it. “He told me what it was and I asked him how much it made if I rebuilt it and resold it. And he was like, ‘It’s $300 to $400.’ And I was like, “YUP! There’s some money right there!” Riley tells us. And that’s how Riley’s Rebuilds was born.
She started looking into other competing carburetor brands but found they were infinitely more complicated to rebuild, with endless combinations of rebuild kits. “Edelbrock was just the most simplistic; a carburetor you could break down and rebuild easily,” she says. Continuing that, “The kits are the same with Edelbrock from a 1406 to a 1407 to everything, really easy to learn.”
After making $1,000 on her hustle rebuilding carbs, her dad kept his promise by matching the funds. The result netted her a Jeep Wrangler. They immediately got to work on light project-car items like a transmission, paint job, seats, and a few other things. After having the money to focus on her Jeep, she stopped with her side business.
Unfortunately, she found herself $10,000 in the hole after she wrecked her friend’s Honda Accord. Wanting his daughter to, once again, learn the value of a dollar, Riley’s dad told her she’d better get to work making money to pay for the replacement car. It was back to the garage building carbs for Riley.
Going Viral
Riley’s friends have always been a part of the business, bringing them in to earn money beyond paying the bills so they can go out with spending money. It’s often a party in the garage as the group gets together often. Even her little brother is involved, soda blasting the carbs after Riley breaks them down. It inspired him to start his own hustle working on exhaust systems. With the operations going smoothly, there was still something about to happen that Riley couldn’t have seen coming, which pushed her into the industry spotlight.
Backing up a little bit, Riley is somewhat of a TikTok star under her middle name. She wasn’t posting anything about carburetors or her personal life. Her content consisted of anime posts where she quickly gained over 80,000 followers. At first, she kept the success quiet from her dad, thinking she might get in trouble. However, he was ok with it after looking over her posts and making sure things weren’t being misconstrued, he even ended up joining her as a guest on the channel. So the pair were familiar with social media when the internet “discovered” Riley’s side business.
Riley was out of town when she made a post on a Facebook group asking if anyone had any old carbs or parts lying around that she could buy to use for her rebuild clients. The teen’s story went viral from that post. When Riley gained cell service and wifi again after the post was made, she had 50 calls, 700 emails, and something like 50 texts about the post. It only blew up from there. That post got 426 comments, 939 shares, and countless interactions. The older generation was so excited to see a young kid wanting to get into cars that they bent over backward to help. Riley received carbs and parts from everywhere. Her business is thriving, and the young ladies she employs are busier than ever, but they are having the time of their lives.
Where The Road Leads
Now, as the group of girls continues working on the carbs and other projects, they are beginning to look toward college. Riley looks forward to playing Division III soccer at an as-yet-named college. She was considering being a lawyer, and not necessarily working in the automotive industry, but her perspective has changed by the industry that has welcomed her with open arms. Especially after seeing the behind-the-scenes of an operation like the Edelbrock Group. She notes her excitement about seeing the marketing and operational side at the headquarter.
Whatever she does, Riley plans to keep the business going through college as much as she can. Although, she admits it might have to be on a lesser scale. Either way, she is so grateful for the opportunities her little operation has opened for her. She spent the rest of the summer being invited to car events where she met some of her heroes and got to “fan girl” over them. She even ended up attending the SEMA Show with her “bestie,” Katie.
Riley leaves with advice for young ladies who want to get into the automotive industry. She explained her stress about having a voice in the automotive field. However, once she jumped in, she was surprised by the level of support she has received. She notes that from the outside, it may seem that the automotive community is cold and unwelcoming to females, but the reality is much different!
Riley spent some time in the Edelbrock Group booth meeting with all her newfound friends from her travels within the company. And she was excited to meet other partners like legendary engine builder Pat Musi who has helped his daughter navigate the waters of what has traditionally been a man’s world in drag racing. She also got to talk about the new VRS-4150 race carbs, which she’s certain to be an expert on after getting one of the first production models to dyno test. She shared a write-up with all of the data from the test and her impressions of its performance.
With her charming demeanor and bubbly personality, Riley is sure to go far no matter what industry she chooses after college, but we selfishly hope she stays in the automotive industry. One thing she does hope to do is inspire other young ladies not to be afraid to enter the industry. The sky is the limit, Riley. We wish you and Riley’s Rebuilds many more years of success!
You can find Riley’s Rebuilds Shopify store here.
