P5 Ford

I should post here more often but..

Took the nissan sh1!tmobile to mot.. The exhaust was hanging on a zip tie.. The whole car looks like it was dug up from a dump. For mot, i need to:
-Change head light bulb.
-weld a spot behind the front strut.
-weld a spot on the driver side floor.

The inspector said that “yeah the muffler looks to hang there.. Just replace the zip tie before it melts”
Had a barrel of laughs..

Tomorrow gonna go repair and take some pics if i remember.

I was driving along in my daily driver nissan sunny.
When suddenly i hear a massive squeal and smoke raises under the bonnet.

I open er up and see that the water pump is stationary and the belt is rubbing against it and smoking.
I shut the car off, take a metal pipe from the trunk and hit the water pump bolt until the water pump starts to move.

Then i start the car up and it runs no problem.
Drove home and the car has been sitting since.

Is it okay to drive?
The belt held 50 a kilometer trip and the temps were okay.
The belt info tag looks a little bit blackened due to the heat but it still feels normal to the hand.
The water pump still spins normally.

My choices are:

Take the nissan and drive while risking the belt snapping or the water pump seizing.

OR

Cram 4 people into my wifes celica. (Trust me. Celicas don’t have room for the back seat.)

So my ford has been sitting outside in the snow for months now. I scraped the ice off the doors and sat in the driver seat.. I literally blipped the key for 0.5 seconds and it starts right up.

Does anybody else have a car that starts on a blip?
Mind you, my ford is 50 years old and carburated.

I just love german fords. Best fords in my opinion.

Engine starts up and runs like one cylinder is missing. Once the engine warms up or you rev up the engine, the engine starts to run normally but makes a tapping noise. (Pushrod engine)

Bent lifter? Eaten cam lobe?

Can’t fit my car in the garage because the garage is too small.. So i’ll have to store my car outside for the winter. I have a spot for it on gravel. Should i get a car cover or a plastic tarp to cover my car or leave it as is for the winter?

My fears:
The car cover is kind of a fabric so i guess it’ll get wet and freeze to the car..
The plastic tarp won’t breathe so it’ll rust it.

I was going to cover the car but still leave a gap underneith so the wind can blow under the car.
I can’t leave the windows cracked open because thieves could easily get in.

I’m going to wash the car one last time and park it on gravel after it dries on the sun. I’ve already removed the antennae so nobody can steal it. I also plugged the antennae hole with a bolt and some rubber so water won’t get in the threads.

Ideas?