Need help with dragging rear brakes on 91 festiva

You need to make sure that the leading and trailing shoes are in the correct position. A lot of times the shoes are different sizes.

agreed with other poster,but you cant get it to free wheel by backing off on the parking break,their is a adjustment spline on bottom you need to back off on that .

There is no adjustment spline at the bottom. The only adjustment is connected to the parking lever which I have adjusted to the minimum of expansion for the shoes. I even tried putting a clamp to bring the shoes closer and left the bleeder valve open to insure the wheel cylinder is in the narrowest measurement. Stunned?

What is the leading shoe? The shoes all have the same markings on them. I am about ready to grind off a couple thousands off the part of the shoe that makes contact with the wheel cylinder top and bottom to bring them in closer. Would that be okay? Tried everything else.

at bottom their is no adjuster,has to be all rear drum breaks have it,it is also possable that the breaks were packaged wrong,and not for your car,I would take them back compair them to another set.

Pics?

It's possible that your rear brake hoses may need replacing in addition to everything else you have already done. Over time, brake hoses deteriorate internally from pressure and heat to the point where the inner lining can start to act like a one-way valve: stepping on the brake pedal will force fluid through the system to apply the brakes, but there isn't enough back pressure to get the fluid to return through the bad hose. This has the effect of keeping your brakes pressurized at all times. Considering the age of the car and that the hoses might be original, it's very possible that replacing them might be the answer. I have a 1989 Festiva, and I just replaced everything that you did, plus both rear hoses, and now the brake system works like new. Hope this helps!