'81 kz650 H1 rear wheel reassembly

I changed out the drum brakes and have been trying to put the rear wheel back on but ran into a few issues. All stupid, I'm learning a lot, so any help is appreciated. Basically I'm trying to figure out the order of putting things back together.

The problem I was having is that the drum brake has two points that connect to the bike. The cam lever and torque link. When putting the wheel in place, I can't seem to get the torque link to line up where it's supposed to go at all. I am hesitant to adjust the angle it is at since I haven't moved it at all during the disassembly.

As far as I know here are the things that need to be "aligned,"
- make sure chain slack is within spec
- brake rod and lever at approximately 90 degrees

do I just do these things first then move the torque link to match? Also, during this process I ended up torquing the nut on the drum side too much and now can no longer remove it (the nut is stripping) nor remove the wheel to impact it.

Is the brake panel fitted on the wheel correctly?

I would pull the wheel off & start over.
Reference a diagram to verify that everything is put together right.
I've got the same bike & have never had a problem the few times the rear wheel's been off.
I just put the wheel on & connect the torque link rod, then do the chain adjustment.

Something else you may need to do afterwards is to center the brake pannel assy.
Lightly tighten the axle nut, spin the wheel, then apply the brake pedal forcefully.
But make sure the wheel is installed right before doing it.

Kawasaki.com has diagrams in the Owner Info section.
I find it's easiest to do the Search-by-Model-Info without entering a vin or anything.
Just pick a year only, then choose a bike from the list.