I'm looking for a how to on assembling the rear drums. I have bare backing plates and all of the parts. I have the assembly manual but that is a little vague. I've never assembled drum brakes so I need "this goes here", "now do this" directions. Pics during assembly or a diagam would also be helpful. Thanks in advance

Did you try the service manual? There's an on-lione source for the manual. Here's the relevant section:

http://www.1968firebird.org/68sm/stdbrk/stdbrk1.html

The have an exploded view of the drum brake assembly, along with step-by-step instructions. A brake spring tool is invaluable in making this easier.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. You guys rock.

No problem. Just keep in mind that the left hand rear is the mirror image of the picture in the manual.

Thanks again go to Steve Leary for his site.

kingsbird - just by chance, you mention an assembly manual and your name implies a '68. By any chance have you located a '68 Firebird Assembly Manual?

Also, since the Service Manual (the best source, as Q referenced) is an exploded view, would you also like an assembled view?

Jim, I have the 68 assembly manual in a loose leaf notebook. It was given to me with the car. I have a couple of pics of the rear drum assembly and the old rear out of the car to reference. I seem to do well following directions so sometimes it easier to be told what to do. If that makes any sense. Thanks

Kingbird,

I don't know if you know this so I thought I would comment in case you didn't notice the shoes are different. There is a primary shoe and secondary shoe. The primary has a shorter lining than the secondary. The primary goes towards the front of the car.

Got it done. Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll post a few pics in a bit. Now I have a new problem, the new Torq Thrust IIs don't fit!! They rub the inner fenders. I think I ordered them with too much backspacing. I measured about 5 times when the old rear was in the car and calculated for the 1" difference between the Nova and original rear.Guess I'll have to look into 1/4" spacers to make these work. They are 17x9.5 with 5"backspacing and 245/40/17s

If you're staying with drums on the rear with your Torq Thrust II's you should consider using aluminum drums from a late '70's - early 80's GM intermediate. They slip on in place of the original rear drums with no modifications. If you polish the aluminum it looks great through the spokes.

Since the wheels would fit a Camaro perfectly you may want to consider selling them and getting the correct ones. Put 69 Camaro in the title on eBay and you will get lots of bids.

Problem with the wheels is solved- I received the incorrect backspacing so I'll return them tomorrow and get the correct ones. Thanks again for the help guys