scared to drive it/please, help with advice...

[rich weyand]

I would do one more thing before replacing the fuel pump, which is a major PITA.

Check the soft fuel lines and see how the rubber looks. If they are old, old, old, replace them before you dig into the fuel pump. It's easy, and those lines can deteriorate inside, giving you little flaps of rubber that block the line above some threshold fuel flow.