Thank y'all for your feedback, especially you Dave Snyder. I put everything together, as far as it would go, and went for a short ride on a New York summer afternoon. Which had the effect of softening and stretching the leather, making much more pliable. I was then able to REALLY grab both sides with both hands and pull the leather forward and drop the leather nose of the saddle onto the bolt head. I repeated this several times while tilting the bolt head up, as much as possible. It all came together after a few attempts, the did the rest with the spanner bolt tool and ...voila! A comfortable, sturdy saddle!
Vicente Saraco, D.C.
Brooklyn, N.Y.