cutting coil springs

You can't cut fox springs, they aren't linear.
So by cutting them you mess up the balance.

You can cut any spring, it just changes the spring rate. Depending on which end you cut off a progressive rate spring, you might make it firmer or softer. Just don't cut it with a torch, that will destroy a spring. However, cutting springs is not a good idea. It's very hard to get the car to sit level after cutting. You need to cut them all in the same exact place from the same end (top or bottom) to atleast be close.

I vote for replacement springs though, you can pick-up a good set of springs for around $100 and a very good set for no more than about $200, pretty reasonable if you ask me.

If there is a dead coil you can cut that without too much trouble..

Cutting the springs works fine for lowering. I cut a set of four cyl fronts to put on my 82, that has a 5.0. Cut about 3/4 coil. It lowered it about 1/2 in more than I wanted, but it was able to be aligned, drives fine. As others have noted, it is not the engineered solution, but...

Recommend cutting 1/2 coil and reassembling them, bouncing the car or a short drive, then remeasuring and cutting again if it's not low enough. Cut, check, cut, check.

Fronts are a pain but the rears are easier. Buy a junk set of springs if you want to experiment. I cut with an air powered cut off tool. Only takes five minutes.

My 82 with the cut 4 cyl coils rides and handles fine, to me, even with no front sway bar and manual steering.