84 Dodge Ram D100 hard start 2 nd starting

Hi, I'm driving a 1984 Dodge Ram D100 Custom 225 / 3.7L, the slant 6
I start up the motor (no problems) and drive to where ever 20 min's or so.
Shut off my engine, go into the store etc. 5-10 mins. come out and go to start my truck, turn the key nothing, no noise/not a sound, then I move the shift lever to N and back to P and the engine will turn over(sometimes I start in N) but it will not start easy. I have to pump the gas a couple of times, stop turning the key, start over again till it finally catches and the engine starts.
I think something may be still hot from the 20 min. run but I don't know what to check. I was thinking it might be time to change the plugs, cap & rotor (?) what do you think?

it sounds a lot like "pullover". basically, the needle and seat are leaking. When you shut the engine off, the entire engine bay goes into a heat soak situation. The fuel boils in the lines and boils in the float bowl. If you take your air cleaner off after shutdown, you'll see wisps of white "smoke", which is fuel vapors in the venturi and the intake manifold. So while you step away from your vehicle, the engine is loading up on fuel and becoming flooded. There is a secondary problem with the float bowl losing its fuel charge, which you will need to start with. Do not pump accelerator. If anything you need to push pedal to the floor, and hold it there, which breaks any choke action, and more importantly allows all the extra fuel vapors to escape, eliminating the flooded condition. Hold the pedal to the floor, while you're cranking until the engine catches.

i would agree with rustycowl about the heat soak and fuel boiling over. i am not too sure what can actually be done about it. if you have a fuel pressure gauge you could toss it on the fuel line to see if the fuel line is holding pressure after the engine is shut off. on my truck i actually got the return line blocked off because all new filter seem to return too much fuel and i was having issues.

as far as shifting to neutral to have to start it sometimes. that sounds like the neutral safety switch. it could just be a bad connection or out of adjustment. on my truck that is just bypassed because the truck use to be standard. if for some reason it keeps you from starting you can just ground the green wire on the starter relay. that is all the neutral safety switch does.

as for permanent cure, you can put a new needle and seat in the carb, and setting the float level correctly; you can try limiting heat to the carb by making sure the heat riser is working properly, you can put in a thick heat isolating gasket, one made out of plastic or bakelite with paper gaskets top and bottom to insulate it from the intake /exhaust manifold assembly.

i would still probably look at fuel pressure first before replacing or making custom parts. a fuel pressure gauge will help you figure out if your system is holding pressure and that the fuel pump is putting out proper pressure.