Hi,

I bought a new set of brake drums to replace my old ones that are getting ropey.

Obviously I know to degrease them with brake cleaner first - to remove the protective layer of packing oil....but when replacing brake discs on other cars I have usually given them a quick rub over with sandpaper to roughen the surface...is this ok to do for brake drums inner linings? ...or should I just roughen the brake shoe surface instead?

Cheers

just fit presumably with new shoes

I always used to run the emery cloth over the shoes and drum to make sure all the preservative coating was removed and it certainly can't do any harm.
I also used to slightly sand down the leading edge of the brake linings if i had problems with new shoes grabbing.