What changes are needed for a piston-prop aircraft to withstand saltwater environment?
There is no way to fully protect an aircraft from the effects of salt water corrosion, even when any aluminium is treated with protection products like Alodyne. In fact, there is no way to prevent corrosion from happening anywhere unless you protect the item in question. Corrosion can affect an aircraft even in the dry climates.

Even if it is not landing or taking off in salt water, just being close to a body of salt water will cause corrosion. All you can do is be very proactive in washing the aircraft with clean water after every day, and using products like Corrosion-X to coat surfaces with a corrosion protection film. Even WD-40 will do a great job of this, because it is not a lubricant, it is designed as a hydrophobic [W]ater [D]isplacement product. You need to protect both exterior and interior areas, even inside the wings. Just ask any mech who has worked on aircraft for any length of time at a location near salt water.

Tailhooks and wing folding do nothing about corrosion, it just helps get the aircraft on the carrier and allows for efficient use of the deck areas.