Yea, Sod the video's, not all are right or good. Britannica restorations is one of the best.
Totally although I’ve found trailblazers to be spot on otherwise. Trouble with the britannica one is the lack of light on his handbrake one!
 
Yea, Sod the video's, not all are right or good. Britannica restorations is one of the best.
ok so my transmission brake shoes are now assembled correctly (I believe) unfortunately I can't stop the scuffing and have about 5 clicks on the handbrake. it almost stops rubbing then I apply and release the hand brake and its back again. I adjust it back another click and the same happens. feels like i'm lost removing the adjuster screw!

several possibilities in my mind are:
the drum isn't fully round
the brakes need to bed in slightly

is this normal with new shoes, should I run them for a few miles or is that a bad thing to attempt?

it only seems to be one side of the drum
 
ok so my transmission brake shoes are now assembled correctly (I believe) unfortunately I can't stop the scuffing and have about 5 clicks on the handbrake. it almost stops rubbing then I apply and release the hand brake and its back again. I adjust it back another click and the same happens. feels like i'm lost removing the adjuster screw!

several possibilities in my mind are:
the drum isn't fully round
the brakes need to bed in slightly

is this normal with new shoes, should I run them for a few miles or is that a bad thing to attempt?

it only seems to be one side of the drum
It is quite possible the handbrake drum is a bit warped. You can probably get another.
But first, try loosening the bolts that hold the drum, and apply the brake a few times, then re-tighten the bolts.
Then drive the vehicle a few miles, and see if the drum is heating up.
If it isn't, the scuffing may be just a few high spots on the shoes, and they have worn off in motion.

So long as the brake isn't heating up in motion, there isn't a problem.
And as far as I can remember, the brake only needs to hold the vehicle against rocking on an MOT, these shouldn't be tested on a rolling road tester, and the tester shouldn't apply the handbrake in motion if he test drives it.
 
Whilst it is not recommended as a regular driving technique, I find with new shoes raising the handbrake lever whilst the vehicle is moving slowly is helpful in bedding them in and taking the high spots off. If you're changing the shoes it's probably about time to change the cable too, as a new one can give you a crisper, tighter feel. Don't forget, you can adjust the cable too, at the lever end. Some of those five clicks are probably just taking up slack in the cable.
 

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