What I meant was you could possibly have that linkage flipped or reversed somehow, moving the cable attachment point rearwards.

Like i said before. You need to loosen the handbrake adjustment. Underneath the car in the middle. So on the bottom of your handbrake. You need to loosen the nuts. This will give more slack at the ends of the cables where you attach them to the handbrake levers of the brakedrum.

danishfiatdriver said:

The handbrake cable is slacked to the very edge, one turn and the bolt comes off. If the cable is mounted to the elbow link, it spreads the shoes out too far.

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SolidusSnake said:

Like i said before. You need to loosen the handbrake adjustment. Underneath the car in the middle. So on the bottom of your handbrake. You need to loosen the nuts. This will give more slack at the ends of the cables where you attach them to the handbrake levers of the brakedrum.

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Think he's done that.
Which makes me think the linkage into the drum has been flipped.

Sorry. Didn't read that. Then i would say. Pictures please ! So we can see how its put together.

Here is a picture from mine. I recently renewed some stuff.. still need to replace the pads though.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17MBOS7QpaXbHSAVlVh4gS5g_5cZaDU0M/view?usp=drivesdk

Okay back with some pictures here.

It has the same symptoms as before I touched the brakes. So maybe the problem isn’t from my work. I do have new wheel cylinders and the cable, so could try doing those too. Just need to find a way to remove the split pin from the arm, as it is rusted together.

Thanks for your help, once again. I apreciate it.

The assembly looks fine. Also the handbrake lever. So as soon as the handbrake cable is back in its slot the drums will not fit any ore ? If so i would think about replacing the cable completely.

The wheel cylinder pistons look a long way out. Are they seized?
Might just be that the shoes need pushing inwards, to slide them on the adjusters. This will push the cylinder pistons back in and allow the drums to fit without dragging.
Do need to ensure the handbrake cables have some free play when released.

The cylinders can be pushed inwards with fingerpower, so I would not think so. I do however have two lying around. My brake lines just looks a bit dodgy, and I think the cylinders look to be in good knick anyways.

I have forced the shoes inwards all they will go. The elbow link prevents them from going further inwards.

But yes, as soon as the cable is mounted in the bracket, which in the right side is not even possible, it pushes the shoes outwards. Mind you, that is with a completely slacked adjuster underneath the car.

The right hand side drags no matter what. The left hand side drags only with the cable slottet in the bracket.

Presumably the next course of action will be to replace the cable.

Do you guys have any tricks to remove the split pin that is completely fused with the locking dowel that holds the cable to the elbow arm? I tried levering it out with generous amounts of penetrating oil and a pair of pliers, but it just snapped off, the centre is just molded in place.

If the pistons will push in, but are currently out, the shoes are too far out. New cables will not address this.
Possibilities:
Shoe slots not cut deep enough. - Compare with each other and with old shoes.
Handbrake lever seized.
Cable not slackened enough.
Handbrake lever not seated in slots properly.

Might need to remove both drums and keep going from side to side to compare. I doubt anyone is about to remove their drums to provide a comparison pic, sorry.
Do you have a Haynes or other manual with a pic to check all assembles properly.

If you have wheel cylinders 'lying around', you need to consider how old, and if they've ever seen brake fluid. They are packed with a bit of preservative grease, but this dries out and allows corrosion eventually. If they've seen brake fluid, it may have absorbed water. Old stock cylinders are often more trouble.

After some fiddling, here is a picture from my recently rebuild brake

After a lot of thinking - and realizing that i prized the old drums off - and that the backing plate is visibly bent - how likely is it that that is the culprit?

danishfiatdriver said:

After a lot of thinking - and realizing that i prized the old drums off - and that the backing plate is visibly bent - how likely is it that that is the culprit?

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Very

D

danishfiatdriver said:

After a lot of thinking - and realizing that i prized the old drums off - and that the backing plate is visibly bent - how likely is it that that is the culprit?

Click to expand...

Whilst the drum is rubbing, we have assumed it is rubbing on the shoe linings. If the backplate is bent, the rubbing could be on the edges of the shoes, or just the drum on the backplate itself. Have a look for witness marks.