More tinkering. The heat buildup in the rear drums caused by the swelled up hose, ruined the original set of brake return springs. I replaced the entire set with some NOS ones I had as it seemed like the shoes were dragging and not returning to their original positions. After a test drive the rear drums were around 300 degrees. When I pulled the springs off, including the small ones that hold the shoes to the backing plate, all of them were permanently stuck in their stretched position, except the little ones that hold the shoes to the backing plates - they were permanently compressed. The brakes seem to be working properly now.
So now I have a little collection of original parts removed from the car - all nicely labeled in separate ziploc bags.
Another lesson learned: old brake components are not good to have on a survivor - if you want to survive driving it.
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