1963 rear drum brakes questions

[dmjlambert]

Hi folks. Here is my 1963 C10 1/2 ton rear drum brakes. I'm going to renew them with a brake kit and shoes and I have new drums as well.

If I order a 64-72 brake hardware kit and shoes and auto adjuster kit, will that be all it would take upgrade it to the newer style with auto adjusters? Or would I need to replace the whole brake assembly with backing plate?

Since these have no hole in the drum nor in the backing plate to get at the star wheel, how were these adjusted back in the day? Was it done by adjusting until the drum won't go on, and then backing it out? Is that spring stretched across the star wheel normal and how the star wheel was kept in place?

[Agv63]

Mine looks the same, i stayed with manual adjusting, yes, spring keeps the starwheel from turning by itself. I have a slot on my drum but its a hassle to adjust, must remove wheel, planning to mark and drill and file a slot on backing plate .

Adriaan.