turns out my rear main seal wasnt the reason for the leak in my motor. it was the rubber pan gasket at the back of the pan. I am running a milodon 7 qt pan and the gasket there sits up much too high. I figured it would smush down when I torqued the bolts but it apparently split.

I put a new seal on and trimmed it with a razor blade even with the side gaskets and it seems to have worked.