Any reason why (other than moving the brake line itself) I can't rotate the rear drum assembly on an escort axle?

The rod that actuated the handbrake is rubbing on a chassis member - rotating the assembly will make it clear the tube by re positioning the handbrake lever on the drum.

Seems a simple solution, but though I should check!

Can you not find anyway around this?
I had no problem with the Escort axle on my Gemini.

If there's no obvious way round it, then moving the drum round is no problem.

Would swapping left and right help? I've seen that done for a few cars. It usually needs longer handbrake cables though due to the routing.

It's worth considering how the brakes are bled when they're not the right way round, while they do work fine it can be a bit more difficult to bleed.

I had to move my drums round for exactly the same reason, so yes you can
I re drilled 4 holes about 10mm from the existing ones

I moved mine for the same reason.

Cheers
Davie

If you swap side to side remember to check that the shoes are re-assembled for the correct direction of rotation.

you will have to rotate the slave cylinder to keep the bleed screw at the top. If you swap sides you may need to chamfer the linings leading edge to stop it howling as some drums do if rotated in reverse.

I'll take some pics later, but basically the rod that pulls on the lever in the brake drum is rubbing heavily on a chassis member, causing the handbrake to stick on.

Rotating the drum to move the location of the lever seemed a simple fix.