I have often noticed a strong odor from new brake shoes for the first few stops. New shoes need to be used gently for the first few dozen stops to give them time to wear in. Be sure your brakes are not adjusted too tight, and avoid hard stops or long downhill runs with a lot of braking until the shoes have time to seat. After some break-in, and after a few heat cycles, the odor will diminish. But do be sure the brakes are not dragging due to being adjusted too tight, or the parking brake not releasing fully, or any other cause.

As PGH noted above, the drums need to be in reasonably good condition. If they are oversize or irregularly worn, the new shoes will only partially contact the drum face, which will cause local overheating and may cause pulling and other problems.

Primary/secondary mix-up?

It looks to me like the radius rod on the Safe T Flex suspension would increase positive caster with the vehicle more heavily loaded, or with tired front springs. This suggests that one of the lighter body styles, or a car rarely driven with a full passenger load, would track better with caster set to the higher end of the recommended range, or even a bit more, like 3+ degrees.

Compression might improve once the engine has run for a while. 90+ is pretty good. 60 is plenty to start and run.

Cranking speed would be lower with plugs in all cylinders except the one being tested. (?)

Being "bent", the tie rod has to be made much stronger than would be necessary if it was straight. I doubt if it can be rotated. One of the tie rod ends would have to be disconnected from the spindle body. Even if it could be rotated, it would have to be turned in full revolutions, which would complicate getting a precise adjustment. I'm guessing the procedure for adjusting toe-in would consist of disconnecting the tie rod end opposite the drag link and making the adjustment there. That should keep the steering wheel and steering box gears on-center with the car headed straight ahead. If not, both tie rods ends might have to be adjusted, if there is no adjustment at the drag link. Some Packard cars had a "kick shackle" on the driver side front spring. That would need to be in good order for the car to steer as it should.

Knuckle pin angle, which I believe is also referred to as kingpin angle, is the inboard slant of the king pins. It also contributes to steering stability. Vehicles with near 0 specified caster will probably have more kingpin inclination. Caster and camber are related, and where more positive caster (rearward slant of king pins) is indicated, more positive camber is usually needed, and perhaps a little more toe in as well. On a 110 or 120, I'd look for 1 to 1 1/4 degrees of positive camber, 2 1/2 degrees of caster, and about 1/8" toe in. The kingpin inclination should be OK if no parts are bent. More positive caster, within reason, will give more tracking stability, with a slight increase in steering effort at low speeds. Incorrect toe in will cause rapid tire wear. No steering system will work properly with worn or bent parts, and proper shock absorber action is essential for the car to ride and handle as it should. Factory specs for steering angles assume the system is in good condition and that the springs are also in good condition. Worn or mis-matched tires will degrade steering action, and tire inflation has a substantial effect on ride and handling. Factory tire inflation specs for the late 1930s cars are very low, like 22 PSI for the 110 and 120 coupes. I run 24 to 26 PSI, cold, on my '37 120 conv. coupe with original type and size bias 4 ply tires.

The springs carried under the axle is an unusual arrangement.

The gasoline may be the issue. Modern gasoline is designed to be held in a non-vented tank, and it may deteriorate more quickly in a tank that is vented to the atmosphere. In addition, the tank may have old deposits of gum and varnish that the gasoline has dissolved. If you have correctly timed spark and fresh fuel, the engine ought to start and run, assuming it doesn't have stuck valves. A compression test will reveal stuck valves.

The shop manual pic appears to match the photograph. That's an unusual arrangement. I believe the red circled part connects to the drag link.