Albion Clydesdale LAD help needed

Hi Guys,
I've just got myself a new truck to spend a lot of time on and I could do with some help in trying to research its past. Only turned up this morning, but was keen to find out more than I already knew, so I got into it with an orbital sander, and pulled out some of the usual rat nests which were wet and causing some minor rust issues.

It's an Albion LAD Clydesdale and I managed to get it off a local farm who had been using it as a water tanker, and the story was/is that it used to be a tow truck somewhere in the snowy mountains area.
After taking to the flakey white paint with a sander expecting to see a Barbie Doll pink under, it turns out to be like a Post Office Red and had faded in places to a mushroomy pink. There is signwriting on both doors, but mostly has been removed I guess, when it got its coat of white. It has the words Smash Repairs under a curved name which is unreadable. There is also the word "phone" in Script with some partially readable numerals under that.
I'm guessing that the signwriting was painted over the red, which also has some wide dark blue lining and white pinlining on some front panels.
One item of real confusion is that under the red there is a coat of deep violet purple not unlike Cadburys colour. This colour is constant all over the cab, and can be seen when I went a bit hard with the sander, and in other places where some of the topcoat had been removed by damage and scratches.
Interestingly, for a supposed tow truck it has a long chassis and did have a 19ft tray which we removed yesterday before I drove it onto the float.
It also has a monster bull bar, and originally had two large tow hooks protruding from the front of the bar which were removed under instruction of the RTA due to the danger they posed to other road users!
Hopefully there is somebody out there who might have a clue or two about this trucks origins

Ian.

Ian, Pictures really will help us,help you.
Have read in the FAQ section on how to post Pictures..
Failing that you can email them to Me, & I'll bung 'em up for you.

I did post a request the other day, but seem to have lost the thread, so I'll add a bit more for those of you who are smarter than I am.
I think it was Swishy? who replied suggesting a photo or two would be helpful, so if Swishy gets this one and wants to send me his pm I'll send him a couple of images.
I did find some bits of paperwork in the cab today, a partial rego certificate dated 6th Dec 83 and the address was Bowna 2644, but the owners surname is on a missing bit of the document. It was registered as FPN 609 at the time.
Also found some fuel receipts from Houlihans Mobil in Albury dated 16/ 04/ 81 and the owners name was A.E. Dunn and Son in Albury. Contacted Albury Council about the Bowna address, but they couldn't help me, as I only had a RMB 225 and the first four letters of what was probably a property name "THUL ? as there is no road in that area starting with those letters.
I did manage to track down Mr Houlihan senior, but he had just has some surgery, so the information was left with his son for now. Hopefully when he's well enough I might get some feedback.
I still can't work out the name on the two doors above the Smash Repairs, but maybe this search will lead somewhere.
Also still haven't worked out why the truck was originally painted purple before the red!
Ian

Ian, I just spliced your 2 topics together, so as to avoid confusion..
If you want email me the pics, (address in my profile) & I'll put them up for you..

Sorry Hayseed, I couldn't find the thread and got the name wrong. I do apologise.
I'm still struggling to find my way around here, but I guess it will come in time!
After I've had my tucker I'll see if I can find my way to your address and get some images off to you, and do appreciate your help.
Ian.

Here's the Pics that Ian emailed Me....

Nice looking truck, it is going to look great all done up. Thanks for getting the photos up, some one gave me a hand the first time. Cheers fill

Hi mate .. that purple/mauve colour may be the old Dulon single pack spray putty a lot of shops used to use when doing a repaint...we used a lot of it back in the day... or otherwise wasn't there a crowd who had big diagonal hazard stripes all over the cabs of their heavy towing fleet ??

...Cheers and good luck with her

I want to see what's holding up that huge bull bar.
The standard dumb irons were feeble (to say the least) and the chassis really tapers towards the front.

To do a good job you should remove the mudguards, as rust can lie in the gap between them, They are bolted on and while there is a risk of shearing the bolts they can always be drilled out and re-tapped. The corner panels are also bolt on.
Always thought that these cabs looked good with a sun visor . Hiway still list them but say no longer available :'(