dont cut the springs. the orginal springs are 2 stage - they have tighter and looser coils to absorb small bumps and also carry load. You need to find them, the old 86 accord also used them.
The front struts are similar to the later accords and use very heavy duty plastic coated springs. The original equipment is SHOWA on all struts and they are really good in their job.
For bodywork - I would suggest you find a good quality denter and see his work first. if you are worried about rusting from the back, then lookup my posts which say to use "weld primer" and also body cavity wax. You may ask how do I get it on the backside.
Look in the wheel house cavity in the back, you will find a large rubber plug near the bottom front and 2 a bit up, The wax is sprayed with a plastic wand inserted through them (the factory also uses these same holes for spraying purpose.
Make sure you use very good quality steel to repair the parts and coat the exposed metal with undercarriage paint, for the roof areas you will need to remove the headliner (not difficult but quite lengthy) and then paint the inside with a rust preventive paint and spray some wax too.