CBL9

1998 Civic EX, ALL my other Hondas have always had rear discs (so lucky) until now. Car has been sitting for 10 months. Finally got all the other issues taken care of and took it for a drive today, there is a very violent pulsating in the pedal when stopping, very intense, worse than cases of "warped" rotors I have encountered.

I had cleaned the keeps and slider pins up front and relubed them a couple days ago and the front rotors and pads looked very very new (despite the 10 months of weathering), so I do not think the problem is in the front of the car.

Took off the drums today, just inspecting for obvious wear or scouring or grooves in the drums or on the shoes, they felt fairly smooth, so I sanded them down to remove some glazing.

Had a buddy step on the brake pedal to check the operation of the shoes and BAM a stream of fluid came flying at me. The wheel cylinder on the drive side definitely was shooting out fluid when under pressure.

Would this explain the violent pulsating? (I think no, but I hope it does )
Is this an easy fix replacing the wheel cylinder, ie: walk in auto store, buy part, remove old, install, bleed system, and everything is OK?

Should I take the drums into the auto store to see if they can measure the thickness as I don't have a vernier caliper? Can they smooth down or resurface the inside of the drum like one would do with a rotor?

Like I said I have never even taken a drum off a car until today. Thanks