This sounds like it is water ? coming up from the block water passage up the bolt threads and on out.
Did you put thread sealer on the head bolts when you installed them? Also did you re-torque the head?

Hi Kerry, and thanks for the reply. I checked the leak this morning and it looked for all the world like oil, so I believed it to be. You've got me wondering if perhaps it was coolant after all, and the blackish color was due to it coming up through a dirty bolt hole (my coolant is a refreshing green color.) I cleaned it this morning and haven't driven enough since to get a sample to verify liquid -- just a tiny seep, and I can't be sure of color, smell or taste from what's now there. So since coolant makes way more sense, let's go with that (and the implication that I'm an idiot) until I can prove otherwise. I have not re-torqued the head (but will tomorrow), nor did I use any thread sealer when I reinstalled the bolts, although I did clean the threads to try to get an accurate torque spec. Is there a thread sealer that you would recommend using before I re-torque? I was nervous about changing the torque spec if I used anything on the threads -- I have heard horror stories about doing so on the rear drums during installation. Also, do you know if anyone has had any success with using a dab of RTV on the underside of the bolt head and/or bracket to seal this leak, or am I looking at a new head gasket? I've heard that the seeping out the sides of the head gasket is normal, but those seeps are either copper color (from the spray) or green.

Man, that really did look like oil, though, and coated like oil...

Anyway, thanks again for the reply.

Use "thread sealer" at NAPA

I use a liquid teflon thread sealer, but any good brand like Russ mentioned should work fine. Just take the time to clean everything first.
The rear drums are a different animal, as the axles are tapered and should be a "press" fit. Oil or other slippery stuff is not recommended as it changes the torque action as the drum slides up on the axle taper.

Thanks again to everyone. After I confirm that the leak is coolant, I will re-torque and give the sealer a try. If it is oil, I guess the thread will continue! 🙂

Usually the black looking color is because the head gasket is leaking compression, mixing with coolant and blowing it up to the top of the head. Before you re-torque the head, you should drain out enough coolant to enable you to remove each head bolt, put sealer on all 21 threads, re-install and then re-torque. Warm the engine up, re-torque the head again. Drive it, re-torque again. If the cooling system is nice and clean as you describe, add a bottle of Alumi-seal. Re-torque at 50 and 100 miles.

After I rebuilt the 232 in my Wasp 2 years ago, it developed a seeping head gasket along the side of the engine. I too, used the copper coat on the gasket and no sealer on the bolt threads. Torquing the head a couple more times didn't help either, so I removed the head, cleaned the surfaces, put sealer on the bolt threads and used silver spray paint on the gasket. After the install and 1 re-torque it has not leaked a bit. The bolt sealer is a no brainer, but I think the copper coat may have dissolved the silver coating that came on the head gasket. If you are nervous about the old head bolts new ones are available thru Hudson vendors too. This is a lot of work, but for me it was peace of mind...and I hate engine leaks!

My idiocy is confirmed, was coolant. Thanks to all who have commented and set me straight. I drained coolant and applied thread sealer to the bolts that were leaking, then re-torqued, which it badly needed (yikes!!). Going to warm it up and re-torque again, then drive a bit and torque again. If leak shows up again, I will give it a stern talking-to, then go ahead and start over following all of the recommendations that have been made. I very much appreciate the support and the good advice. Was hoping to make it to the meet in Co. Springs, but the car isn't ready and I don't wanna go in anything else. Thanks to all again.

Bruce, the copper spray coating was formulated for just these types of applications and was not the issue. Those head bolts go down into the water jacket, thus if they are not sealed, coolant will work its way up the threads and out like you experienced.
New head bolts are a must for me, as those old head bolts always have some corrosion on the threads. Its a lot of work to go through to not replace the bolts with new ones.