Hellhole and Longs Inspection when looking at a car, How to inspect the Hellhole and Left/Pass Long? Options

[J-Gaz]

I've been reading up on 914s for the better part of 2-3 years. Maybe longer.
I've been shopping and looking at them locally here in the Puget Sound for over a year now.

Lots of cars seem to be really rusty... and bondo'd or repainted [AKA covered up] under the battery, in the hellhole, in the rear trunk, the lower Bulkhead etc - the usual spots people tell you to look for.

I even saw one where someone bondo'd up the hips where the longs, floor pan, and bulkhead meet - underneath the car... and coated with an undercoat - but the bondo was clearly flaking off, and they did a piss-poor job with their putty spreader, leaving tool marks everywhere.

I still haven't found a 'good way' to inspect the Left/Pass Long. To me - that's the actual 'HellHole' as the battery tin isn't as difficult to get to. But when it starts to leak down into the long, and eat it apart - that's the crux of it.

No one seems interested in removing the rocker for me either, and even when I squeeze my head to attempt to observe the jacking point, I can't see much.

Plus, there doesn't seem to be a good way to inspect inside the left long when I'm out looking at these 'projects' - because all of them seem to be, no matter what price point I look at... a project.

Any tips or tricks to help inspect these areas when I'm meeting people to see about a purchase?

Should I get a cheap borescope? IF so, where can I access the long to insert the camera?

Really appreciate it.

J.

[mepstein]

It’s not so much the hole in the engine shelf and he’ll hole that are a problem, it’s the longs (they connect the front and back of the car) and the inboard and outboard rear suspension mounts that end up disintegrating from the water and battery acid mix.
Quickest way to tell is to see the passenger tire leaning in at the top of the car. That’s the suspension mounts failing. Jack up the car, take off the passenger rear wheel and inspect the suspension mounting points.
Many times people will say they fixed the hell hole because they welded in some replacements sheet metal. It’s all the stuff at the bottom of the car that really matters.
And the passenger side engine mount. It rusts where it’s mounted on the long. Hard to see until the engine is out.