Brake Pedal Diagnostics

That car cannot be fixed. You need to ship it up here to me

I would adjust both/ all 4 drum brakes up tight, bleed the brakes, and see what that gets, then slack off the adjusters until they rub "lightly" and go from there.

If you are unfamiliar with drum brakes they can be quite deceiving, as simple as they are, AKA if the drums are worn or been "turned" and the shoes new, the shoes will effectively be too small for the now larger drums. Back in the day, you had the shoes "arced" which is a precision grinder that grinds off lining so that the shoes then match the drum diameter.
Yes I am not well versed on drum brakes. I think I did one or two sets in the 70’s. I set my shoes on the loose side doing the opposite of what you described. I figured I could tighten them as I go as I didn’t want them locked up. I finally got the car up on stands and will adjust the rear brakes and flush and bleed them in the morning …
Thanks for the great background and tips!