My '80 vanagon is leaking oil.  From what I hear this what vanagons
do, but as of this weekend, mine is now doing it more than it has in
the month or so that I've owned it.

Over the course of the weekend I drove around 500 miles, which while
hardly an epic, is the most action this particular westy has ever
seen.  Over the course of the weekend, I used 1.5 quarts of oil.   At
one point there was enough oil dripping onto the catalytic converter
to make some white smoke.   This did not sit will with my engine fire
paranoia.

Before this weekend, it had been leaking two drips onto the ground
after each time it was driven.  (But then again it hadn't been drive
that far before)

So is this normal?  Do I have a full fledged oil leak?  If so, what do
I do about it?

My non-volkswagen specific friend and potential brother in law John
says "put stop leak in it?"  Is this a good idea?  Will it harm
anything?  Will it actually fix anything?  And if it does, is that a
temporary fix until I can do something better or is if fixed?

If Stop Leak isn't an answer, where do I start to look for this leak?

thanks,
mac

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