Truck Forums - fuel pump relay problem

I have a 1997 Chevy 1500 pickup, 4wd, 5-speed manual w/ a 305. About two months ago, the truck wouldn't start, and I figured out that the fuel pump wasn't turning on. When I opened the relay box, I noticed that the plastic casing fuel pump relay, as well as the plastic on the relay box itself, showed signs of heat damage at one of the connectors. I bent the prong so that it would make contact, and the truck started up fine and ran for two months with no problems. Yesterday, same problem. Fuel pump wouldn't turn on. I replaced the relay, and it still only worked intermittantly, and the engine had no spark. I tried everything, and finally what I found to work was hot wiring the positive terminal of the battery directly into the ignition coil. Once the engine was running, I disconnected the wire from the battery terminal and the truck ran with no problems. Today, it died on the way to work. I noticed that the relay was extremely hot. Once it cooled, the truck would start but the engine would soon die and the fuel pump would not turn on. After sitting for a few minutes, it will start again, but will die pretty quickly. Any ideas?