If they will remain within spec, can the drums be turned?
(edit: nevermind.)

The wear pattern on the outside is strange.
That hardware mounting setup should allow the shoes to 'float' and pivot slightly to make full contact.
It looks like they don't pivot.

I found a place within reasonable driving distance that can get to them in two weeks.
I may talk the guy into turning the drums even if they are over spec by a millimeter or two. I'm not going to be driving this thing like it was 1975 anymore. With thick new shoes that are never going to be used enough to wear down I don't have to worry about the brake cylinder piston extending too far, and the hoop strength of the drum isn't going to be compromised that much.
Your thoughts on the shoes not pivoting is interesting. They fit very snugly in both the piston and the adjuster. If they aren't in perfect alignment they are jamming the piston against the cylinder bore. I might grind a millimeter off of them to let them float sideways a little bit.

Don't forget, with the drums roughed up from turning them you'll get more 'servo' action on the shoes too. I wouldn't worry about the 'float' until after you try them again. Removed metal is hard to replace once removed.

Old school method was to make several panic stops at 60 mph. They should mate like a couple of jack rabbits in Arizona pretty quickly

I don't think that'd work in this case, Bill. He doesn't have enough surface area in contact and has already started to glaze the shoes from the heat.
If it were mine, I'd get the drums lightly turned to rough them up, then take a file to the shoes to get the dark portions off and down to 'raw' material again. Then carefully bed them in with the panic stops.

Did these squeal when you applied the brakes WD?

(AFAIK- and please correct me if wrong)

1). 'Organic' brake pads (or shoes in this case) are softer and will conform to any surface..but will wear out faster and with more dust.
Look at any BMW rim.

2). 'Semi-metallic' brake pads are harder and less prone to overheating..but will wear out a disk or drum surface faster and may have less stopping power.

Take some sandpaper and put it in the drum grit side in, sand shoes to fit.

That's an interesting idea: you can take some adhesive-backed sandpaper, stick it in the drum, and then "turn" the shoes with the drum

Roughing up or turning the drums seems to make the most sense. Those shoes don't seem too far off. It also looks like there is at least one company that will reline those drums. Yours look pretty OK from my house though.

I was blown away by the cost of new drums. Good grief that's mean.

Seems like they would be off radius the thickness of the sandpaper.

This is why we can't have nice things...

Works great, will be closer than any shop and 1000x better that trying to bed them in by using the brake.

Is it possible that the backing plate is not square to the drum? Just a thought.

Dave

I’ve looked into this, as well as the alignment of the shoes in their anchors. As near as I can tell everything is all right. There is a tool for this that fits on the spindle and rotates. It has a blade that mimics the surface of the brake drum and allow you to observe how the shoes fit relative to the spindle. Wish I had one.