Toyota Repair: Toyota Corolla is Flooding Out, autoparts store, vacuum leak

Question
Hello Ted,
I have a 1987 Toyota Corolla,1.6L,4 cyl. carburated model which I'm having problems with.
Sometimes it is hard to start.Then I can take it a few miles,shut it off and when I try to start it back,it will turn over but won't start.I can smell gas strong.But after about 10 minutes it will start back.It appears it is "flooding out".But it does this frequently,not every time.I have noticed black soot from the exhaust at times.
I can hear a vacuum leak somewhere in the rear area of the engine.What could be wrong?What should I do?
I am going to just park the car til it can be fixed.
Thank you for any advice to these problems.  

Answer
If there is an intake vacuum leak the engine will not idle but it sounds like the carburetor may have a flooding problem, most of the time it is more sensible to replace the carburetor with a remanufactured one, the ones from the dealer are very expensive(around $700) you may be able to find an independent supplier such as a local autoparts store and save a lot of money, anyway, try to have someone professional diagnose what the problem may be.