Thanks Cyclon696, I just see the one hole where the screw that holds the drum goes in (at this point though, I am trying to get the drum on)
ellets, good thinking. I took both cylnders off and took them apart, cleaned out the rust and gunk, and refurbished them with new springs, cups, etc... from the kit. I even took the drivers side one (the one giving me trouble) apart a second time and put the whole thing together and still had the problem. It seems to be compressing OK, though the cylinder spring does have some tension to it.
OK here are some photos that may help explain a bit better
brake parts before installation:
passenger side rear wheel brake components after I put it all back together:
close up of star wheel adjuster and adjuster lever, passenger side:
star wheel adjuster (I had trouble understanding what this looked like before I got the drum off, so here it is for others to see!)
passenger side with new drum on:
Now the fun begins with the drivers side, the problem is that the shoes and components shift around depending on how you press it all together. It is supposed to do this so they can adjust while you are actually braking. It seems at this point with the drum off, I can shift them to make the shoes look even except for the adjuster lever by the star wheel (see video, towards the end of video, I notice adjuster lever is a little too high, I push it down to the right position on star wheel, you hear a ping from all the other components shifting out of whack (i.e. the shoes are now uneven):
driver's side rear wheel with components put together (notice that adjuster lever is in correct place now, but shoes are off kilter, a little hard to see):
Even with the shoes looking even and the adjuster lever off, the drum still won't fit on.
The driver's side adjuster lever seems to have more tension on it from the self adjusting cable than on the passenger side one.
I am going over to work on her again this afternoon. A friend of mine suggested checking the emergency brake cable to see if it is still slack. Maybe it is pulling the brakes somehow. Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!