Pesky roof rain gutters

[Cobalt]

I have looked around, but I'm goingto ask instead. As the owner of a 91 Subaru Legacy that has reached it's 18th birthday this April; the black rain gutters are going badly. I've come to a cross roads. I know that there was a thread that shows how to paint them but searches have turned up nothing. If I have to paint them I need to know how to safely remove them without breaking the mounting clips. Another option is to apply a big vinyl graphic to each gutter when I peel off the existing worn paint.

removal - how do I do this safely?
Paint them - if so how?
vinyl strip - could this work?

And seriously are these thing made of stainless or chromed metal, I need to know what I'm working with.

-Thank you very much to anyone who responds with any help.

[tahiti350]

If your talking about the black strips above the side windows here's the removal (which is different for wagon and sedan, BTW)

Sedan, remove window/door seal, remove screws, remove trim.

Wagon, remove inner sidewall panels, remove headliner, undo about 4 nuts on each side above rear quarter windows, then remove door/window seal as per above.

Wagon is a PITA... go slow, and if it doens't come right off look closely for any hidden screws

[greg donovan]

a vinyl strip would work just fine. there are people on here that have blacked out the chrome strip on the side of the car using electrical tape.

[Apex3]

Vinyl would work just fine, you can get flat black on ebay for $5/ft for 15" and $6/ft for 24," I was gonna buy some for a couple things too, the only issue is the bigger the area, the harder it will be to keep bubbles out.