Front brake update

Well...the new brake shoes from LFH did not really cut the mustard, no real improvement ove the 50 year old ones. A dial gauge proved the drum was not oval but putting some chalk marks on the drum and applying the new brake pads showed that the surface was a bit uneven and slightly ridged:

So I stuck some abrasive paper to the shoes with double sided tape and 'skimmed' the drum surface. This cleaned up the surface and also removed a lot of gound in friction material (the drum had been abraded and then cleaned with thinners but this 'dust' must have been ground into the pores of the drum surface:

Then abrasive was stuck to the drum and the shoes 'arced' to the drums.. Now I had full contact on the shoes and drum:

However......(there's always an however).....I found that the brake arm now went just over 90 degrees to the line of the cable when the brakes were fully applied whereas 90 degrees is best for full leverage:

So i added some brass shims to the cam end of the shoes:

Took it out for a run and they are much improved and were getting better during the ride. When I got back the drum was very hot...so they are clearly doing some work now.