Leaks!!

[blown motor]

The truck I bought last fall has a 440 and 727 and they both leak. I'm suspicious that the engine has a rear main seal leak. Could that put oil over onto the starter? The starter is dripping down onto the exhaust. On the transmission, is that the shifter linkage that has a drip on the bottom of the bolt? So is it likely that the seal there need replacing?

[DeathProofCuda]

Have you ruled out leaking valve covers?  I'd start there for oil on the starter and exhaust.  Rear main seal seems unlikely for oil in those places.

[Scooter]

Have you ruled out leaking valve covers?  I'd start there for oil on the starter and exhaust.  Rear main seal seems unlikely for oil in those places.

^^^ What he said. If it's on the starter, it's not likely the rear main. I'd start with the valve cover gaskets as the most likely suspects. Also, the oil pressure sending unit could get oil down there too.

[blown motor]

I bought the truck last fall and took it to a garage for safety check. Due to a variety of things the truck ended up in my shop a month later without the safety being completed. They had valve cover gaskets on the list of things that needed to be done. The bell housing has no inspection cover so I swiped my finger along the bottom of it on the inside and there's a lot of oil there. Could all that be from the valve covers? The picture is my second swipe.

[DeathProofCuda]

If there is oil inside the bellhousing you probably have a rear main seal leak as well.

[Scooter]

I bought the truck last fall and took it to a garage for safety check. Due to a variety of things the truck ended up in my shop a month later without the safety being completed. They had valve cover gaskets on the list of things that needed to be done. The bell housing has no inspection cover so I swiped my finger along the bottom of it on the inside and there's a lot of oil there. Could all that be from the valve covers? The picture is my second swipe.

Yes.. still could be valve cover especially if the inspection plate is missing.

[MoparLeo]

Impossible to start diagnosing an oil leak with oil everywhere.
You need to steam clean or somehow clean the top and underside completely before you can properly find the leak.
Like looking at a dead body covered in blood and trying to find where it came from. You have to clean the blood off first to find the hole.
It should be fairly easy at that point.
Easy to say "could be this or could be that."
  Or you can actually find it.
There are also fluorescent dies that can be put in the oil to detect where a leak starts from using a ultraviolet/black light source.

[70vert]

agree with @MoparLeo , although replacing valve cover gaskets and oil pressure sender are quick and inexpensive fixes so could just do it then if still leaking move on to the hard stuff.

[blown motor]

I did wipe everything down after I took pictures. Tranny pan gasket leak showed up. Pic was taken one hour after wiping it clean. Still working on the rest.

[MoparLeo]

You don't wipe off oil and its clean. You need to either have it steam cleaned or use an aersol spray like Brake Cleaner that evaporates to make it clean and dry before you try to find leaks.

[blown motor]

I sprayed it all with brake cleaner.