I recently replaced my rear drum brake hardware but forgot to take a picture before disassembling everything. Can someone confirm if this is how the parking brake lever is supposed to be installed? I’m also not entirely sure how the lever functions in the mechanism. It looks like it might not be mounted correctly — should the lever sit on the right side of the cog wheel? When I place it there, it seems to keep slipping off toward the left side. Any clarification or reference photo would really help.

This is the drivers side of the car

It looks about right. If you pull on the lever that the cable attaches to you'll see how it works. Each time you pull the parking brake lever that arm over the notched/toothed wheel moves over the teeth. As the brake shoes wear eventually the end of the arm catches one of the teeth and rotates the tightening mechanism, making it longer. When it's assembled correctly the end of the arm sits right on the teeth.

An illustration of your picture is in the Brakes chapter.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Zed Head