[camerjeff]

North,

You are correct about the leaking rear brakes being a blessing, who ever replaced the rear shoes and part of the hardware didn't have a clue on how drum brakes are supposed to be assembled! On the Rt rear I found the spreader bar spring installed on the wrong end, & stretched to fit over the large end! Of course it was broken! Also they just had washers behind the springs that hold both shoes on, and the rear parking brake was also broken. On the left rear the lower spring between the shoes was installed upside down, not allowing the adjuster to turn. And both cylinders look original, and the left one was also leaking just not as bad. Lucky I am a pack rat and had everything I needed to correct the issues in my used brake parts stash.
Got a chance to drive the car around the block a few times today, I could actually test drive it and feel confident it would stop when I needed to! The car does drive really well, I am pleasantly surprised how well it starts & runs, and now stops! Feeling better about the purchase now. This winter I will have to pull the front drums again and clean and inspect them. I only pulled them looking for leaks. But after seeing the work performed on the rear brakes, I suspect I will find somethings wrong on the front also.