Problems starting an '83 Spider Veloce

["Ryan Scrogham" <rscrogham@domain.elided>]

Hello,

I have had a problem lately in starting my '83 Spider Veloce.  It sat in the
garage for approximately 6 months (during the winter months) waiting for
spring.  However, when I went to start the car... nothing.  A friend
recommended I install a new distributor cap and rotor to help the process.
After doing that, the car fired up on the first crank.  Unfortunately it
only ran for about 2 seconds and has not started since.

I purchased the shop manual for the car and it noted that one should *hear*
the sound of the fuel pump during the process of starting the car.  I,
however, guess I don't remember hearing the sound of the pump before running
the car in the past - and am guessing this is the problem.  Perhaps the fuel
pump died or somehow developed a bad connection? Does this sound familiar to
anyone, and how would your recommend I check to see of the pump is working?
BTW, the car has 114,000 mi.

Thanks.

~ Ryan

------------------------------