The problem is that this car is a "barn car" that I am in the process
of putting back onto the road; it has a Texas inspection sticker on the
windshield reading "0" and that means that it's been off the road for
at least six years, more likely 16 or 26.  When I got the car the
brakes were in bad shape, the linings were worn, mismatched, and fluid
soaked in the front.  I replaced all shoes at that time, along with the
hoses, master cylinder, and three wheel cylinders (the fronts needed to
be replaced; the rears appeared to be able to be "kitted" but one had a
stuck bleeder screw so it was replaced as well.)  The brakes were only
"driveway rated" at the time I got the car so I haven't a clue how they
performed when the car was last on the road.

The reason the rear shoes are newer is about 50-100 miles after I
started (carefully) driving the car I ran to a parts store maybe 5
miles away to exchange a battery and as is my habit I set the parking
brake in the parking lot.  Apparently due to a missing spring in the
parking brake linkage the rear shoes were dragging slightly as I drove
back, not enough to create a perceptible drag but enough that there was
a distinct smell of hot linings by the time I parked the car again.
Post mortem revealed minor heat cracks in the rear linings, so the rear
shoes were replaced again.  This is why the front shoes are older than
the rears, but none are actually "old."  All were obtained from the
same vendor and as I posted above appear to be consistent in their
friction characteristics.

To answer your specific questions, I don't have a drum caliper but
little to no perceptible ridge is evident on any of the drums.  The
front shoes appear to be contacting the drums more or less fully, but
as the rears are pretty fresh they are only contacting the drums over
maybe 30%-ish of their surface, mostly on the leading and trailing
edges.  I can only ASSume that this is because the friction material is
thicker than stock but the drums are still relatively unworn.  I would
assume that shoe width is not a problem as they are stock relined shoes
and the friction material does not hang over the edges of the shoes.

Unfortunately I don't have the option of going to a deserted parking
lot and properly wearing in the shoes; I live in an area where such
things don't exist and traffic is such that trying to "burn in" the
brakes on public roads would likely result in a ticket, accident, or
both.  I also don't know of any shops that have the ability to "arc" my
shoes for me to speed this process along...

thanks for the reply...

nate