On my '64 Valiant the brake pedal was very low when purchased. The master cylinder and all brake cylinders and lines look new with no leaks. I checked the hardware and freed up the self adjusters, then the self adjuster caused the brakes to drag very hard. The shoes and drums had been worked on sometime in the last 30 years while it had been sitting in a garage shop as a display. When I disassembled the brakes (9") the shoes were contacting the drum for only about 2 inches at the top. I think the drums may have been surfaced too large or the shoes are wrong. I decided to just replace everything

I replaced the drum, shoes, and hardware on the right side with no issues. I removed the stud swedges with the hole saw as suggested, it worked great. I did not road test but assembled, rotated, and dissembled the drum; the shoes appear to be making contact across the whole drum surface.

Today I disassembled the left side. The drum is welded to the hub instead of the studs swedged to the drum. I can't seem to find a source for a new hub. Does anyone have any suggestions for removing this weld without ruining the hub, or a source for a new or good used hub?
And, yes I have verified there are no swedges on the studs, just a weld around the hub / drum.

Searching messages I have not yet found any reference to the hub being welded to the drum. It is a VERY professional weld. It is either factory or a very very good weld. I am concerned about removing this without guidance. The heat discoloration on the drum weld is minor and consistent.

Second (minor) question: the new hardware kit has replaced the pin type shoe retainer with a spring which goes through the back plate and a retainer on the shoe. It looks like it should work fine but I don't have a clue how to install. I just bought some original pin/spring/retainers that I know how to use.

Update:
I took the hub/drum assemble to a local machine shop today. The senior machinist did some wire brushing and other clean up and told me that the drum is not welded to the hub. "it just looks that way because of the machining and fitting they did to make the drum match the hub diameter. The heat is from machining, not welding."

I went back to Charlie my 80+ YO friend who has been answering questions from me based on his 50 years of Mopar work. He apologized and said "I guess my eyes are not as good as they were." I told him as long as he'll answer questions I'm really grateful to him talking with me. I'm only ten years younger than he is, so we'll just bumble along together

I'd still like to know how to install the new type retainers... Charlie said he didn't know and didn't care; the old style work just fine.

Photo attached of the new retainer springs. When I search for brake hardware kit many of the part phots look the same except for these retainer springs.
Any suggestions for a source for brake hardware kits? I bought a good kit for the front brakes (except the strange retainers which I did not use) but can't seem to find a full kit listed for the back. For whatever reason I've always liked replacing all the hardware as long as I have the brakes apart.

The problem with the front shoes not making full contact with the drums seems to be that the old shoes were not the correct size. The new drums are about .009 in smaller diameter but I don't thing that is enough to cause the issue. The new drum / shoe combo seem to be working. I'll put 50 miles or so on and then check the shoes for contact area.

Thx, Jim

I have to agree on the old stuff works fine. If they're in good shape reuse them.

Can you show us some pics of the brake shoe retainers you're asking about?

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