1983 VW westfalia not starting

I recently bought a 1983 Vanagon. It was running fine up until a few weeks ago when it was having trouble starting. It just doesn't seem to catch, and eventually I will run the battery out trying to start it. If I wait a few hours or try again another time I can get it to start fine. It has also stalled a few times after coming to a stop a steep hill. I admit I am quite the young rookie when it comes to cars, but I suspect something is up with the fuel pump. Hopefully ya'll can help me out here, I'm trying to avoid spending a bunch of money sending it to the VW specialist in my area.