At 02:25 PM 12/30/2010, Jason Swan wrote...
>In fact, the brakes act like they aren't adjusting at all.
>No hand brake friction at all, and the brakes need to be pumped each
>time.  I did clean everything with brake cleaner and a wire brush
>when
>I had it apart, and I'm reasonably confident that the self-adjusting
>mechanism should work...

After installing new shoes (you should have had to back off the
adjuster all the way to get the drum to install over the new ones), you
need to work the parking brake quite a few times to readjust them. Each
time you pull on the parking brake, it adjusts 1 click (you should be
able to hear it with the door or window open, engine off). It takes
8-10 clicks to turn the adjuster star once around, and it may take
several turns until it's actually adjusted.

Once the parking brake starts actually engaging (you should feel it
tightening up), work the brake pedal a few times to help center the
shoes, then work the parking brake some more.