Rear drum fitment question

[Pablo M]

Sorry for the barrage of questions lately-I’m off this week and have been trying to complete an ambitious list of projects on my 1972 2002tii.

 

Just finished up the rear brakes. New WC, SS lines, shoes and drums. 
Finally got the right shoes and drivers side installed fairly easily, even the lower W retaining spring. Then slid the drum on and all good. 
On passenger side also good, until I tried to slip on the drum. Felt as though the shoes were bigger than drum. Adjusters all the way in and shoes sitting inboard even from that. Couldn’t get drum on at all initially.  I tapped the shoes into position, as inboard and centered as I could and was able to slide the drum on with difficulty. Hard to turn hub by hand as it stands, much harder than drivers side. 
 

I’d read here that sometimes the shoes need shaving on leading/trailing edges as they’re not exactly same radius as drum, and need to be matched to drum. 
Is this all I should need or indicative of another, more serious problem? 
 

They’re both on and I mounted wheels to keep them on for now. Im concerned about driving with them as they are. 
 

drivers side:

[paulyg]

1) Parking brake cables need to be completely slacked off using the adjustors by the handle

2) Make sure the tabs on the brake shoes are seated in the slots in the wheel cylinder pistons, not just riding on the face

3) Disconnect the wheel cylinder from the brake line, or depress the brake pedal and leave the reservoir cap open. There could be pressure in the brake system that is not allowing the wheel cylinder pistons to retract. 

[Pablo M]

13 hours ago, paulyg said:

1) Parking brake cables need to be completely slacked off using the adjustors by the handle

2) Make sure the tabs on the brake shoes are seated in the slots in the wheel cylinder pistons, not just riding on the face

3) Disconnect the wheel cylinder from the brake line, or depress the brake pedal and leave the reservoir cap open. There could be pressure in the brake system that is not allowing the wheel cylinder pistons to retract. 

1) didn’t remember to do that! Thanks. I’ll have to loosen the parking brake. 
2) will double check but set them up so the slots were vertical before installing the wheel cylinders. 
3) wheel cylinders are new and we’re not connected. New SS flexible lines were also installed. No pressure in lines. 
 

Thank you! 

[stephers]

Sometimes the shoes need to be "arced "      basically, they shave a little off the leading and trailing ends of the shoes to allow the shoes to fit better in the drum.        If the loosening of the handbrake does not give you enough, you can shave a little off while the shoes are on.  It's just not going to be pretty but it works

 

Thanks, Rick

[Hans]

Adjuster bolts slacked off? Are they turning nicely?

[Pablo M]

2 hours ago, stephers said:

Sometimes the shoes need to be "arced "     

 

Thanks, Rick

That’s what I suspected might be the issue. I’ll try the parking brake adjustment first. 
 

 

3 minutes ago, Hans said:

Adjuster bolts slacked off? Are they turning nicely?

completely backed off and the drums sitting inboard of the adjusters. They are turning well, after some persuasion. Lol. 

[Mike Self]

I just went through this on my '73.  I couldn't force the new drums onto the new shoes even with a big dead-blow hammer.  Ended up doing a lot of filing, fitting, filing the high spots again, fitting, filing etc etc until they reluctantly fit.  

 

And yes, adjusters were backed off all the way and the ebrake cable was slack.  

 

My take was that the shoes were either improperly lined with the wrong thickness material, or the shoes themselves were defective and not made correctly.  

 

This "adventure" was my October 2022 Roundel column...and after all that I just discovered a leaking wheel cylinder...hope it hasn't contaminated those brand new shoes!

 

mike

[stephers]

Way back when most cars ran drums on the back, we always had to run the shoes through a machine that would do that.   Pretty common, due to not so quality control during the lining install.    Brake clean is your friend when working round brake fluid, it cleans up wet shoes pretty good.

 

Thanks, Rick

[jp5Touring]

Same as Mike's experience. Sand fit, sand fit.   Joys of a 50 year old car.

[Son of Marty]

If you sand or file them to fit be sure to wear a good dust mask, even asbestos free shoe dust will damage you lungs and make you boogers taste funny🤔.