and also a groove in the backing plate that may be causing the shoes to bind and not fully extend against the drum.
That sounds kind of far-fetched to me. The backing plates have some stand-offs stamped into them that the shoes ride on.
There are a few things you haven't mentioned. When did this happen? Had you been driving the car regularly or was this your first spin after the car sat for a long period of time? What does the pedal feel like, both with the engine off and engine on? Is it mushy or firm? If you rapidly pump the pedal, does it firm up?
Time to get your hands dirty and pull the wheels and inspect them rather than speculate. Since the car pulls to the left, start on the right side, since that is the side that is weak. Jack up the right front tire and with a helper in the driver's seat, spin the tire and have your helper press on the brake pedal. What kind of noises do you hear and does the wheel indeed stop? Then take the wheel off and actually inspect it. There could be a number of things wrong. If there is a broken spring or the self adjuster cable is broken or misplaced, it will be pretty obvious. Check to make sure the primary or small shoe is facing front and the large secondary is facing rear. We have seen several pictures here where the shoes have been installed backwards. Check for leaks. Even though your parts may be new, in this age of repro parts, the cylinder could be faulty.
After inspecting them, as Joe said, bleed them until the fluid at all four wheels is clean. Buy a number of small bottles vs. one large one. You don't want to use leftover brake fluid from an open bottle six months down the road. Since I don't usually have a helper around, I use a MightyVac. Starting at the right-rear, you can just pump away until the new fluid arrives, checking the reservoir periodically to keep it full. It is a very useful tool to have around since it can be used for more than just brake bleeding. I don't mean to insult your intelligence but I don't know how much experience you have with bleeding brakes. The pattern is RR, LR, RF, and LF. There have also been some threads here discussing a change in the design of the front cylinders where the bleeder sticks straight out instead of angled to the rear. In that case you may not be able to use the Mightyvac but may have to resort to the two-person method. Also, the bleeder should be 3/8". If you can't get a standard wrench on it, let me know as I have a bunch of 3/8" ignition wrenches which are flatter than a standard wrench. PM me and I can send you one if you have that trouble.
MightyVac:
http://www.harborfreight.com/mityvac-va ... 39522.html
There are no visible leaks and I am not losing fluid. When the wheels are off the ground there is no play in the wheels either vertically or horizontally. Anyone have any similar experience with the 62s. Thank you to all that reply.
