Need a little restoration guidance

#1 Yes.
#2 Absoluetly.
#3 Not a big deal, what is, having your cruising around weight in the car, including spare tire.

Common accepted angle is 4* down. Worked for me and may others.

#4 Only sandblast it if the paint really sucks. Painting the engine bay first is common.
#5 Only sandblast it if the paint really sucks. Or the majority of the paint is missing, or there is excessive rust everywhere, in which case I would get it primed right then. Bare metal sitting around gets rusty quick.
#6 Where is your build thread? Put it up!