Removing saddle and gas tank

Today I spent just a little time (after getting to a stopping point on my Allstate engine rebuild) taking a few more parts off the VL1T frame.  Saddle and gas tank came off today.  A few pictures of the work.

The seat cover is pretty bad.  I plan to take it to an antique furniture restoration place here in Denver and see if they have any ideas.  There is no padding in this seat.  It is a cover laid directly over that 1/2" hard piece of plastic found in almost every Vespa saddle.  The saddle frame is in crazy good condition.  The springs are like new.  Less rust than any of my other scoots which are 10 - 15 years younger.

A little web research and I have discovered this seat the "Prestigio" model was manufactured by Agrati which was making motorcycles and scooters during the same time frame.  I suspect Piaggio was purchasing saddles from Agrati in the early years.  I would also venture to say this is one of only a very few of these saddles left in any kind of salvageable condition.  I will learn more as time goes on.  

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrati

I also took off the gas tank.  Clean inside with just very small rust spots.  The paint on the top and primer underneath are nearly unmolested.  This history of this scooter interests me.  How does something this old and unique get to Minnesota with so many intact pieces?  And where did the motor end up?  In a shop somewhere for a repair and never got reconnected to the scoot?

Here is the tank and the cavity from which it was extracted.  The picture does not show it well but the paper gasket around the tank is still in place and unbroken.  What you see on the top of the frame is not broken gasket but rather dirt which has collected in the grove of the metal.