I'd like to change the color of the silver stripe on the door panels to blue. I'm afraid paint will wear off due to legs rubbing against it and I'm not sure how to properly apply vinyl to it since it's heat riveted to the door. How should I go about getting a quality finish on it? I'd like to paint it, but I want it to be durable and not chip in a month's time.

 

Rough it up then spray it with one of those made for plastic paints. They kind of dissolve the plastic and bond.

 

Hey Chris J. Scott,

You mentioned you were afraid of paint wearing off due to legs rubbing against it? I painted the accents in my HHR about a year ago and I have no paint wear anywhere other than a chip or 2 around the shift knob. I am 5' 9" so I my legs don't completely reach that high but this is my daily driving vehicle so I use it daily.

Like Donbrew said, as long as you use the paint for plastic, it should be fine.
What I did was I kept the door trims on as I do not have a heat gun. I just covered up all the areas both inside and outside the car so no overspray gets anywhere. The plastic paint sheets do well if you decide to do the project this way. I used 4 coats of Krylon spray paint for plastic, and 3 coats of Clear coat. Then the other accents I just removed from the car to paint them as well.

Here was the outcome:

 

Looks great, and very easy to do, just attention to detail and work slow and steady!

 

Di-Noc vinyl is available everywhere and in many colors. Also not permanent.