[Kevin in NJ]

The shoes must be the same diameter as the drum (well a bit smaller) and centered.

You must also be sure the wedges are all moving the drums the same amount. Used wedges are often filed some to take out wear so you really have no clue. The current repro stuff is great.

Brakes are about making a system work. All the parts have to be right.

I use a Barrett brake doctor to sand the shoes to size and center them on the car. It uses the axle to move a sanding disk around the shoes. I think you would be best buying backing plates set up from shops that can do them for you. You just need to accurately measure your drums. If you have steel drums you would smart to go to cast drums and just have the shop set them up for you.

There are other solutions like sticking sand paper to the drums and sanding the shoe to size. This might give you problems centering.

Remember, good brakes take time and money to make them. There is no such thing as cheap brakes that work right on the A.