Hi guys, new pads on my 79 drum brakes, too tight to get drum back on. Had drums turned, adjusters at minimum, no binding , calipers collapsed flush with body. Shoes right against calipers and adjusters.
Shoes from rockauto, they seem right otherwise.
What might I be overlooking?

 

Your terminology is confusing...Pads are disc brake pads,brake shoes are used in drum brakes. There are no caliper parts in a drum brake system,"calipers collapsed flush with body. Shoes right against calipers and adjusters"caliper parts denote a disc brake system which your car didn't come with originally. Have to assume you're saying shoes are against wheel cylinders and adjusters.
Two things will cause the problems you're having,either the brake shoes are wrong and you should be able to match them up with your old shoes to verify they are or aren't and/or the wheel cylinder pistons are frozen in outboard area of bore of wheel cylinder not allowing shoes to retract far enough to get drums on or wheel cylinders have been replaced and may be incorrect for the application. These too can be matched up with original parts to determine if this is the case. You do have all the old parts removed?Really a good idea to keep all parts replaced til such time car brakes are 100% operational at which point they can be discarded.
Some clarification will move help suggestions forward.

 

are you overlooking the emergency brake is on, or set too tight??

maybe the shoes aren't centered so and pump the brakes, or pull the e brake handle to center the brake shoes.

 

Right .. I wasn’t clear. We’re talking shoes. I’ve replaced the wheel cylinders as well. It’s as if the shoes are too thick.
Currently no fluid in the system to pump brakes with, but tomorrow I’ll try ebrake to see if there’re not centered.
Shoes look identical to old ones.

 

Pics might help us see something out of place. Sounds like they should go on. How much close is the fit?

 

How thick is lining on new shoes,brand?

 

I ran into this once. E-brake adjustment was the culprit.

 

Did you figure it out yet? a frozen adjuster will cause this as will improperly seated shoes. For a frozen adjuster take it apart and wire brush it good. if necessary run a chaser on the threads as the part is unobtanium.

If they are making a metal grinding noise and the drum goes on but not all the way, the pads aren't in the grove. The bottom of the shoes must sitting perfectly in the groove the metal which the pads are attached to will rub on the drum. You wont be able tell that they aren't seated correctly you have really good lighting and get on the ground to look at it from under the wheel.

 

Everything looks fine, adjusters are clean and loose. I swear it seems pads are too thick.
weather gone south here now, guess I’ll mess with it later.