Thanks for this. I'll clean and lube up the adjuster threads, they should be fine. Should be able to adjust shoes outward OK before put drum on. Awaiting new shoes/drums & hardware kit that I ordered. Regarding my question on accessing the star wheel on adjuster from the backing plate, I just took another look at the pictures of the manual you sent. The first picture answered it for me. Apparently pushing on the shoe or e-brake lever through the round hole in the backing plate somehow disengages the adjuster and lets the shoes contract to allow removing the drum if there's a ridge on it. Weird. I haven't done drum brakes in a while but I always had to back off the adjuster wheel on other vehicles with a brake adjuster tool.
Note: Somehow this thread ended up in the L300 section. Should have been in the L100-L200 section. I think all of the L300 models had rear disc :-)

 

It's all good, man. The main goal here is to keep as many on the road for as long as we can.

 

Finished up with the brakes this morning. It's been a while since I did drum brakes but I have to say this is the most frustrating set up I ever worked on. Not confident the adjuster lever is going to stay engaged with the star wheel. If I adjust the shoes out to put more tension on it I can't get the drum back on. Will drive and see how it goes.
Also, the aftermarket spring kit from Dorman was sub-par. Hold down springs for shoes not tapered at ends. Hold down "washers" sit crooked. Re-used OEM hold down springs and the upper spring on 1 side as aftermarket appeared compromised after removing a few times while screwing around with adjuster.

 

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for you. It's been over 20 years since I worked on a vehicle with drum brakes. I love the 4 wheel disc set ups!

 

Update with pictures. Note: The wetness is from me spraying PB Blaster on the drum/hub to loosen, not an internal leak on the brakes.
I'm not convinced the adjusters are engaging. Drove the car today. Brakes working fine but e-brake not engaging soon enough. Will pull wheels and check. I think I can rotate the adjuster star wheel through the front with a pick if I rotate the drum to line up a wheel stud hole with one of the larger holes in the hub. It's a straight path in to the adjuster.
Yeah! Was able to finally upload pictures


Leading shoe on driver's side fell off steel backing!

Passenger side done.

 

Frist, T-sport, THANK YOU for starting this thread and for your pictures above! (and for the veterans here who started and maintain it) I appreciate too that somebody above posted the "shop manual" -- which surprised me, as it happens to be the same text & less than clear images found via Chilton. (If that's the manual the pros had, wow, it's ... awful, on key issues.)

Happens I've owned a 2002 L100 for about five years, (now over 200k, and engine still runs amazingly well) but these rear drum brakes have been the one frequent nightmare (that and the lousy driver seat) spoiling the fun -- and I'm rather experienced with DIY drum brakes, but these have been a royal... pain.

Key issue for me is the positioning of the adjuster, where it supposedly buts up against the trailing brake shoe. Sure, there's apparently a slot there for it in the brake shoe itself (as is clear on richpin's video for previous model year Saturn L's -- but "not" -- not -- applicable after 2000) But on our model, I kept thinking that there must be something wrong that the brake shoe connecting arm comes down in front of the rear shoe (the "web"), preventing the adjuster from seating into the slot, and as a result creating a precarious (unstable, unsure.... flimsy - take your pick) abutment for the adjuster.... the springs, etc. (I've now had mine, the springs and/or adjuster fall off 3 times over five years.... frustrating, and each time, I keep thinking, surely I must be doing this wrong -- and does ANYBODY have a clue how we're supposed to be doing this? (yet from all the pictures above, it's apparently just this bad....) Corrections please. Any suggestions? Yet from your pictures above, guessing that indeed, this is the way to do it.

(after / if I fix it a third time, I'll be reading up on converstion to disc options -- lol)

 

Havai, the brake adjuster does go the way depicted in my last picture above. I took the wheels & drums off again the other day to see if the lever that engages the star wheel on the adjuster was still in place. Neither was. The issue is that the brake shoes have to be adjusted outwards more with the adjuster. If you review steps 8 & 9 in the shop manual pages posted in this thread by 02 LW300, it tells you to measure the inside diameter of drum and then adjuster brake shows outwards to .5mm less. This should properly tension and position everything so the adjuster lever stays engaged against the star wheel on the adjuster. Does your average DIYer have the tool for this? Not likely. It is very difficult to get the drum on after installing the shoes unless the adjuster is in all the way. I found that if I put the drum on, applied the brakes several times, remove drum, screw out the adjuster a few turns, reinstall drum, apply brakes a few times, repeat above steps a few times, then I could get the drum off and on with proper adjustment of the the shoes/adjuster. Applying the brakes with the drum on in the above steps centers everything. Note: You can also access the star wheel and lever through the front of the drum and turn the adjuster wheel with a narrow screwdriver and also lift the adjuster lever back up to engage the star wheel when done. Leave the set screw out of the drum and rotate the drum so one of the lug holes lines up with the bigger hole in hub face and rotate both together so you can see the adjuster wheel. A small, bright flashlight will help you see in there. Pictures attached. Hope this can help. Keeping my fingers crossed everything stays put, The brake pedal feels much better and the e-brake engages with minimal travel now that I have adjusted everything per above.
Again, I changed drum brakes many times years ago on other vehicles. This is the only set-up that ever made me want to pull my hair out. Not sure why they had to complicate a system that worked so well for decades.


Adjuster lever through hole