De-chroming... With vinyl?

So I went to drop my chrome window surrounds off at my spray painter to get painted black, but he said that it wouldnt last very long and is very likely to chip/crack.
 
So anyway, he recommended i get some black vinyl, and use that instead since i have the pieces off the car. Has anyone done this? What vinyl did you use?

You need to create a rough surface for the primer to stick onto.  Hit it with 100 grit sandpaper then move onto 180 or 220 then you can prime it.  From there, it should stick with no problem.  Its just more work then most shops want to do.

if they were my chrome trims, i would sand it with 80grit sand paper, hit it with 2 to 3 coats of primer surfacer or high build primer, spray a mist of guide coat, let it dry for a couple of hours.... wet sand it flat with nothing less than 800grit sand paper, then spray your black.... 
 
i personally would hit it with duplicolor black trim paint. its not glossy, and its not flat, more so semi gloss...

Yeah i was thinking that might be the case. Do you think its worth doing that + a can of gloss black (same as my roof), vs just getting some vinyl tape on it?
 
Was thinking vinyl would be quick and easy, as long as i knew which brand/type to get

get it viny wrapped bro, ive done it with my mirrors:)
but got a pro to do it.it only costed me 40nzd for both mirrors, only took him like 20mins and it looks good.
i wouldnt sand or paint chrome trim,  what if one day you get sick of black?

Well thats the thing. Grant knows how hideously expensive these window surrounds were ($700ish from Nissan), and because of their design, i cant get secondhand ones (they bend when you take them off)
 
Might look into the professional vinylers, though i still like doing stuff like this DIY. I tinted my own windows, so a bit of black plastic shouldnt be hard!

Its not hard. Use minimal water. Trim it a lil big like 1/8" and use a heat gun on low to curl it around the edges

I work for a vinyl shop and can tell you to use either Avery A9 series, or 3M 7125 High Performance Vinyl series for outdoor durability. Both come in Matte or Gloss black colors. You can buy them in 15", 24", 30", and even 48" heights. There is a place called "Fellers" that you can order by the yard if needed.

I think you should go the vinyl route.  That way, if you ever wanted the chrome back, you can just take the vinyl off.  It's a win-win situation.

If you are worried about it not sticking, spray the surface with a light spray adhesive.  Then you don't have to scuff anything up (the only other way to get it to stick) and it can be removed with adhesive remover if you want to go back to chrome.

THanks for the info guys. Tabaka, it seems fellers are a distributor, and i need to be registered with them to make orders. I only need 10ft x less than a foot (its only the strips to go around the front and rear windows)... anybody know a good hookup?

a local sign shop should be able to order it for you if they dont carry it.

if all else fails, ebay?

The new 3M with the cross stitches' seem to work well.

Have you done this yet Dom? I'm interested to see how this turns out. I was contemplating doing the same on my visors.

[QUOTE=Jay J;296545]The new 3M with the cross stitches' seem to work well.[/QUOTE]
 
This is vehicle wrapping vinyl. It's called the controltac series through 3M. If you are super picky and get super close, you will see these "cross stitches" which are actually small poors for the air to breathe through when wrapping. It makes it super easy to limit any air bubbles or pockets. 
 
I'm pretty sure you can buy vinyl from any sign company or even Ebay. Sorry for the "fellers" source. I use them so often and thought they might sell to anyone with a credit card.