Forgive the question as it may end up showing my lack of mechanical knowledge but I need to ask. I changed the shoes, hardware and drums all the way around and noticed when I did the fronts that I can see a portion of the shoes when I look between the backing plate and the drum. Should this small amount of the shoe be visible or does that mean either drum is incorrect or something else isn’t right? It’s a Manila drum brake system on a 70’ CS with stock wheels. I replaced the front hubs and noticed this when I was ready to put the wheels back on. Unfortunately I didn’t notice when the old set was on so I can’t tell if it was that way before.

 

No, that is not correct. The friction surface of the front drums should be at least 2.5" wide, the rears about 2" wide. If you can see the shoes, either you have the wrong front drums or they are not properly pressed onto the hubs. Do not drive it like this.