Black soot out of exhaust pipe

cudajim said
No, the car is not billowing black smoke, the output looks normal and no deposits on the driveway. It's a stock Holley car which I rebuilt. The spark plugs are burning normal and are not black. Everything inside was clean as a whistle. Fuel economy is ok and it runs well even when cold.

Then you haven't got a problem. File away the tune-up parts and technique suggestions in this thread for future reference, and keep driving.

I had an old Valiant in the 70's and I don't recall the tailpipe looking black like this one.

because in the '70s we were burning leaded gasoline, which when the mixture is correct leaves the tailpipe light grey.