Just to add my two cents, I went the painting route and while it was good intially, long term I can't say im happy. I wanted it done professionally just to save the labor but every body shop near me didn't want to touch it, same with the few vinyl shops i checked with. I did all the work with the trim on the car, but I tried to do it right including all the tape and masking work and using a spray on over spray protector. I have a professional automotive paint store near me so I was able to get the supplies I needed.
I properly degreased and dewaxed the trim, used a adhesion promoter and a single stage urethane with a hardener. Initially it looked great but a year later I have chips near the edges here and there where the chrome meets the black plastic strip. I attribute this most likely to two things, one painting the trim on the car probably made this more difficult then needed when getting paint evenly to all the nooks and cranny's and two, plastic chrome is just a ****** painting surface no matter what and I trusted the adhesion promoter too much.
I imagine in the future I'll end up attempting this project again, but next time I will order an extra set of trim pieces/badges, sand or chemically strip the chrome off and then try the paint again. Once I have everything ready I'll find a bodyshop to swap everything out as I personally am too nervous to **** with taking trim on and off and lining up badges.
A whole lot of PITA to fix an oversight on Ford's part, they got it right with the Lincoln MK VII LSC's, I dont know why they forgot that lesson.
