1956 XK-140 Front brakes assy

Mike,

That makes a lot of sense. If you look closely at the illustration on page L.48 only one end of the spring appears to come through a hole in the shoe. At the other end, there is what appears to be a corresponding hole in the other shoe, but no sign of the end of the spring emerging through it. This may also account for why the hooks at the two ends of the spring are not aligned, They are probably meant to be around 90 degrees out from each other. By the way, posting pictures on the new forum is a lot easier than on the old one. Instructions can be found here:

-David