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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.

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

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.

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.