That’s corrosion you’re probably dealing with. Best bet would be to remove the drum.

I assume destructivly remove the drum. Will a penetrative oil work?

7 minutes ago, jj280z said:

I assume destructivly remove the drum. Will a penetrative oil work?

Um, no. You don't need to be destructive. As I said before, you can remove the drum with "persuasion". I said rubber mallet before, but I should have said dead blow hammer. I have done this on a drum where the shoes were swollen from absorbing brake fluid from a bad wheel cylinder. After a few blows, the drum was working loose. A few more blows made it where I could pull the drum off easily.

I'd squirt some oil in the adjustment hole and spin the drum before destroying it. You'll waste the shoes but not the drum. It's the friction of the shoes that's holding it, plus maybe a ridge inside the drum. Lubrication wil help.

It can take a surprising amount of force to get the drum off. Typically, wiggling it back and forth a mm at a time, pulling on the edges of the drum, will get it to move.

I get the impression, no offense, that you're being too gentle, because it's "not right" that it's stuck. Use controlled brute force. After banging that screwdriver against the adjustment wheel.

There’s also corrosion build up between the drum and the outer axle. Grab a dead blow hammer and give it a go.

There could be 50 year old grease mixed with 50 year old brake dust in there which would restrict movement.

Like Zed said you have to push the ratchet lever off the teeth as you turn it. It can be a bit difficult to move that way as well.

Drum is off and adjustment has been made to the shoe spacing. Thanks to all.

I do have one more question.

When I adjust the brake, so that the adjustment gear starts to widen the shoes. At what point will the shoes stop expanding? What is the mechanism to keep the shoes from normally wedging themselves in place?

After all is cleaned and appropriately greased, the cog is turned to tighten until the shoe just rubs the drum. Steps 4, 5, 6.

Then the E-Brake is designed to self adjust, but all that needs to work smoothly as well.

Hopefully you removed the mechanism and did a thorough cleaning and proper lubrication before reinstalling the drum. The right hand side should be serviced as well while you have the car off the ground.

The parking brake will adjust the shoes when the handle travel gets too long. If the handle doesn't pull up too high then it won't turn the pawl.

Like Terrapin adjust them out until they just touch. Pump the brakes once it's all assembled and then double check the drum contact. Sometimes stepping on the pedal will center the shoes and add a little gap