about to buy a lightweight / air portable

hi guys im new to this side off landy zone normally on the range rover side but im about to buy a series 3 lightweight / air portable 88 with a 2 1/4 petrol engine, it is quite clean for the age but is missing a tailgate and a roof canvas and bars but they will come up sometime on fleabay etc, its apparently an ex army one and was de mobbed in 1982 with all the paperwork from then but its on a Q plate is there any way with all the paperwork im getting with it to go thru dvla to get a age related plate for it ?
and is there any thing i should be looking for major problem wise before i part with cash, cheers

Im not a lightweight expert by anymeans but i do know to check for rust more than anything on one of these. Especially the bulkhead at the top as these are very expensive to replace. The running gear is the the same or very similar to any series so just check the essentials.

I dont know if they are the same but i have 3 Series 3 rear tailgates in my shed if its any help

you can fit std hoops and soft top from an 88 ,tailgates can be swapped but lightwieght is 2 piece one normally ,normally they got normal plate on release ,check its not a conversion

Something seems a bit wrong- why's it on a q plate?
The exarmy ones I have seen all had a plate for the year they were demobbed. Then you use the chassis number to try and get the manufacture year and get an age plate for that , if you want.
Has the chassis been changed and has a SVA or something.

Would check the q plate anyhow but for some reason ages ago it was not unknown for the DVLA to issue a q plate to a de-mobbed vehicle rather than an age related plate depending on how the vehicle was dealt with at the DVLA office, recently though this has not been the case and you are always given an age related plate.

beware of Q plate. Some insurance companies Very sniffy about them and load premiums

apperently it was done back in 82 and that was what they had done but have got a whole lot of paperwork to go with it.
all the chassis is ok and it had a new bulkhead about 4 years ago

divie said:

beware of Q plate. Some insurance companies Very sniffy about them and load premiums

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a bloke i know really struggled to get his q plate insured eventhough was previous