i have an 84 cadillac coupe deville diesel with oil leak/ what should i do?

[EMILIO N]

i have an 84 coupe deville diesel i just bought it for 800 dollars (hope to fix her up) and i went 250 miles to pick it up of course the guy said car was great.. witch it is o.k (I DROVE IT 250 MILES HOME AND IT MADE IT JUST FINE-BESIDES A LITTLE WHITE SMOKE OUT OF EXHAUST)when i got home i put in garage then pulled it out to get out my bike and noticed a good puddle of oil on ground so QUESTION IS since the car is 25 years old should i just have the motor rebuilt/change motor to gasoline/ or just find the oil leak And fix (keep in mind i plan to fix this car up and keep for long time). and what could white smoke be (especially when i hit gas hard it goes into overdrive and really smokes) one time even let out some sparks from exhaust.

 

[Mikey]

Oil leaks are endemic to these engines. I don't believe you can stop it but you can try. Might get it stopped for a little while. That white smoke probably came from a valve not acting right. I used to make a living replacing these engines with gas engines and all but two had broken rocker arm stands as their only problems. I mean about 20 or 30 and the owner would say go ahead with the gas engine because in their minds they had already bitten the bullet and made the decision. The other two had broken rods from over-reving. I would love to have the car with a gas olds engine it, say a 403.