Mushy brakes 4 life...

The shoes most definitely fit flush on the backing plate. I pulled the drum off almost in frustration and cocked one of the shoes. You push it flat with your hand and it stays put. As for the backing plates... buried in the thread I show the dimensions and they seem to have been confirmed as indeed 11x2.5. The drum also is shown and marked 11” bla bla bla. When I get back over to the shop I have new drums I’m going to try for giggles and grins. Long work days and I will be back at it and post up.