My guess is that since you are not able to cause the shoes to contact the drums by pulling on the disconnected cables, you may not have the mechanical parts between the drums and the backing plates installed correctly.

Last edited by 52Carl; 03/14/2020 5:41 PM.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission