When I fit the rear drums, they virtually fit all the way up to the backing plate, which is what i expect.

The two drums at the front don’t want to go the whole way – you can see there is a significant gap from the drum to the back plate.

The obvious issue would be that they are snagging on the new shoes, but:

1. I have the adjuster in the fully open position
2. The wheels turn ok – I would have thought if they were up against the shoes, the wheel would not be able to be turned.

But I can’t see what else would be stopping the drums going on further.
I have tried “encouraging” them with a rubber mallet and also using the wheel nuts to try and draw them on – but they don’t want to move.

Did they fit before? Do you have the right shoes fitted? There are different options and you could have been given the wrong ones

I have come to the conclusion that the issue does not relate to the shoes.

On the photo, the measurement shown for the front wheel is about 10 – 15mm longer than on the rear wheel. I have swapped the brake drums, and the front drum fits nicely on the rear. But I have the same issue at the front.

I am not sure what axles / wheel hubs I have, but I suspect they are not originals.

I have looked at my photos but I can’t tell what the fit was for the brake drum when I took the car apart.

I wondering if my axle / wheel needs a different brake drum i.e. one about 15mm deeper, but i can't imagine how i would work out which one it that is.

ach. you can't really tell from that photo, but i think i have put the brake backing plate behind the stub axle - and i think the stub axle goes on first then the backing plate. I don't know why i did this. But this would move the backing plate maybe 15mm further out, so the drum would then meet it nicely.

Well you won’t do that again lol