hey buddy, I reskinned mine with vinyl, cut off the original seat pattern.
After looking at a lot of options, my cafe seat is going to be made out of light weight, strong, and easy to use FIBERGLASS.
Found a leather loveseat curbside the other night outside a bar so the leather is now accounted for. Now it's just design.
as for cutting down the existing, the method I've seen on Instructables if you don't have a heated foam cutting wire knife IS........a long bread knife. For real.
I'd remove the old skin, get vinyl at the fabric store, and make a mock up of what you want. The Vinyl will settle and you'll end up with a more accurate template after a few weeks in the sun. You'll also see where the stress wrinkles are going to form and where you'll need reinforcement.
WARNING!!
heat the metal fangs the seat is stretched over before bending them or they will snap off and you'll have NUTHIN to hook your seat over. Keep all those little pressure tabs that press down over the ribbed shafts, To remove them bend them more like a bow, to re seat them press them flat.
There's a dude in the UK that sells fanged strips you rivet into place to make stretching a new leather/vinyl seat cover easier. I cannot find anything similar so I may have to stretch, then glue with clamps and then drill and rivet...
by the way, take pics. I'm doing the same with my new seat build.
