Even with low milage after mechanical things set for an extended period time they corrode up and break down. And in my opinion 3 years is not horrable but still significant. I would have to agree with the previous post throw a whole tune up at it to start with. The build up inside the distributor dosen't suprise me at all. It's gonna draw moisture its the nature of it setting for that long. When u mentioned the way it cranked it seems a little odd to me. Especialy if its cranking that hard cool. Mine cranks a little hard when it's hot, but that's because I have a lot of timeing in it. I also had problems with to light of spring with my curve kit not returning the advance all the way back when I shut the car off. That made it crank hard. Check to see if your advance is moving free they can draw moister and freeze up, and be locked in one spot. My friend had a simeller situation, and it was because he ran the main ground to the body instead of the block. I didnt think much about it at the time, but weak grounds mess with electronics. We switched it around and it was fine. And not to ask a foolish question, but is all the connections tight. I made myself look like a fool this one time over a loose connection. Lol. I couldn't get my car to start a good semaritan actually stopped to help. We ran jumpper cables to it and waited and waited and it just would barely crank. Long story short. The main power wire was about to fall of the starter post.
But as far as no spark I'd check the 12 volt source to the distributor first, and then id would check the pick up moduel inside the distributor. Also unpluge the ignition wire to the cap take the cap off,and crank the motor to make sure the rotor button is turning. I don't know if you have a roller cam, but I've wiped out a distributor gear before.
