Water pumps are only a few components.

Housing, Impeller, Bearing, Shaft to connect the pully.

If your water pump’s bearing fails, it is very possible that it is causing your shaft/impeller to spin off balance, causing vibration/noise.

Grinding noises like you are describing sound like a failing transfer case.

There is a chain inside of the transfer case that can stretch and make a hell of a racket when it slaps against the housing or other parts.

Transmission problems mostly revolve around shifting issues, burnt fluid, vibrating torque converters, lost gears, things like that. If your problem is making odd noises, I would check out your transfer case first.

Hello.

Rust happens with oxygen and water. Called oxidation, it eats metal and leaves rust behind.

Automotive paint is used to cover the metal surface and protect it from being exposed to water. If there is a scratch or chip in the paint that is deep enough to expose metal it will rust.

It is possible to mend the metal. If you remove the rust and build up areas where material was removed, you can repaint the area and it will be repaired.

You do not want to paint over rust, or paint anything that might trap water against metal, a lot of people make this mistake. It only makes things worse.

Once rust starts it continues to advance as long as there is moisture and oxygen present. The speed of advancement is dictated by environmental factors, so if you store this car in a dry area away from moisture, the rusting process will be greatly slowed/‘stopped’.