So aside from the roof rails (which I painted matte black a while back) the only chrome bits on my TRD Pro were the rear emblem & lettering. It really did start to drive me crazy that these weren't blacked out form the factory (not so much as the roof rails did though)....so I had to scratch them off the list. Thanks to all those on this forum that provided insight on the removal process.
Not a fan of plasti-dip...and I certainly didn't want to bend over for the overlay kit, so I just went the spray-paint route. I've found many times that with good materials, proper preparation and patience, you will yield good results. I spent $28 on a can of Rustoleum Satin Black Paint/Primer, a can of Rustoleum Flat Clear Topcoat, 1" 3M double sided tape, and 800 grit sandpaper.
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My process:
First - tape off the lettering on top/bottom and wherever else might be helpful. I also took a thin sharpie and marked where the edge of each letter was (on the tape) to ensure proper realignment. I used fishing line to remove the emblems. Really not difficult at all. My only tip here is to wear gloves, and be careful when removing the large Toyota emblem, as there are two dowel pins that locate the piece that are easily broken off. The letters don't have these, so no worries there. I then removed as much of the old adhesive off the back of the letters as possible, and applied the new double sided tape. Tip - use a break-away blade so you can keep a sharp tip, and cut inward, at an angle so nothing will show around the edges. After wetsanding (lightly) all the pieces, I applied 6 light coats of the black (5 minutes in between each coat), and then 2 coats of the clear. I set them up on small spacers (used for tiling) to make sure they didn't get stuck and to ensure 100% coverage. I found it easiest to peal/roll the old residue off the rear garnish while it was cold (not heated up), and used Goo-Be-Gone to finish it off (no discoloring, which I was slightly worried about). Easy Peasy. Great Results.
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