Its been a few years, but I think you can see under the carbs if you removed the gas tank before removing the carbs. You might need a mirror to get the right angle, but I seem to recall that there was a certain amount of visibility under there after you put the carbs back on. Can't remember for sure though.
re: coolant elbows question, two reasons to replace them, 1) people have tried to re-use them and have had issues with them cracking, either upon re-installation, or shortly thereafter. 2) the original O-ring will be a gooey mess. For the few extra bucks they cost its not worth the risk of re-using the old ones, and you'll need new O-rings too.