Something's wrong with my car. I suspect head gasket failure, but tell me what you think:
I drove about 15 miles from home on the freeway, and when I arrived at my destination, I noticed acrid smoke coming out from under the hood. Opened it up, and the smoke seemed to have two sources: Some was emanating from the air filter container thingie that's on top of the carburator and some was coming from the left side of the engine next to the dipstick. It appeared that oil had been splashing out the dipstick and onto the engine. I pulled out the dipstick and there was oil up the entire length of it, and the engine registered nearly a quart of oil higher than the last time I'd checked it (doesnt oil normally read *lower* if the engine's just been running?). The oil looked slightly dilute.
The car had started fine and had seemed to drive fine and the engine light hadn't come on or anything (in fact, on this car, the engine light normally flickers a bit at idle speed if you've just been driving it at highway speeds- I was told this was due to oil pressure and was simply a somnething old motors do and nothing to worry about).
My first thought was that the head gasket had failed and antifreeze was leaking into the oil and forcing up the dipstick. However, there seemed to be a strong gassy smell, and I havent been able to find any water on the dipstick. Could it be gas getting in instead?
The car is a high-miles 1978 Buick Regal with a carbureted 3.8 liter
231 cc Buick V6.