On a 70 roadrunner with drum brakes do the short shoes go towards the front or rear and is it the same on front and rear wheels?

short shoe in front on the rear drums

same on the front drums IIRC

I had them reversed for years,could this be why it didnt stop and hold very well even after new shoes?

yes

on the rear with e-brake it pulls the longer shoes to get a better hold on the drum.

I have corrected more self adjuster turning the wrong way than I have reversed shoes

When there is a difference in length of material, the shorter goes to the front and the longer to the rear. If there is no difference in length, but a difference in material color, the lighter shoes goes to the front, and the darker to the rear.

It doesn't matter if we are talking about rear or front drum brakes.

When there is no fixed lower anchor (as the case with the era of Mopars generally being discussed here), the front/primary shoe's main job is to apply the rear/secondary shoe, which does the lion's share of the braking.

Just remember brake shoe install is like a mullet, short in the front long in the rear.

I have always wondered why they call it a mullet, it doesn't resemble the fish.

Anyone have a diagram of the shoes and adjuster position?

Here is a pic of my 8 3/4 before I rebuilt it. It's not sitting level but it should help. This is the right side.