"Anybody know why the parking brake only works in one direction?"
Could it be that the primary and secondary brake shoes are reversed/backwards on the rear drums?
"I don't really want to have to buy new brakes and redo the brakes also."
I would think that, at a minimum, you should pull the drums and check out the condition of the drums and shoes. You probably will have to some disassembly to remove the frozen bleeders. One is bound to break. BTDT.
Keep up the good work the step van looks great.
SimS
