[alfa] Spider just quit

["Michael Kovach" <mskovach@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Out for a long (~35 minutes) drive this afternoon and my 78 Spider was
running great. Stopped for awhile and picked my wife up, went for another
drive in the country (~30 minutes) near the end, the car started running a
little rough at stop signs, not wanting to idle (ran fine once I got started
again, though). Stopped at an office and ran in for a couple of minutes and
left the car running. It stalled while I was in there and would not restart.
Has plenty of cranks and it's getting spark to the plug. Acts like it's
getting gas (speeds up a little when I depress the gas), but won't fire for
love or money. History: the car sat for ~ 1 year before I bought it. I did
not drain the tank, but have added nothing but 93 octane. The fuel filter
appears to be new and the car's run great every time I've fired it. Topped
up with gas before I left (just to be on the safe side). Any suggestions are
appreciated. Clogged injectors spring immediately to mind, but I don't know.
Car's still real hot right now, but I'm going to pick up carry-out and I'm
going to try it again when I do, as it's on the way. Hopefully, it's just an
airlock or something and I'll have good news when I get back!
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Took it out this AM, because it started and ran just fine and I'm awfully
thick-headed. Car started running rough after about 5 minutes and finally
quit just before I made it back to home base. Won't start for love or money
now. Happened to die right by an old family friend's garage and he was kind
enough to help me out and help take a look at 'er. Here's a summary of what
I've figured out to this point:
* I've got spark. Plugs were awfully fouled when we pulled them to confirm
it, but we cleaned 'em up, put 'em back in and she wouldn't fire. Found out
the same time that I've got compression, although we didn't measure it.
Seemed like plenty to me, though.
* The engine will fire if you spray a small amount of ether into the can
minus the air filter (even though I know this is a no-no, I took a
calculated risk to prove a theory)
* When the car gradually quit running, it acted like it was missing on a
cylinder or two and then quit.
Summary: She isn't getting gas, but I'm not real sure where the best place
to start is. My gut tells me to change the filters first because they're
going to be the cheapest and easiest, but I'm thinking the electric pump may
be the logical first step, with clogged injector concerns falling someplace
in the middle there. Any thoughts on where to start?
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