One of the annoyances on my 1985 Sedan DeVille is that the dashboard vinyl face has separated away from the foam a little bit. Specifically, whenever the ashtray is pulled open a spring-loaded protective plate comes out and then bumps right into the dashboard vinyl, pushing it away from the foam backing. Over the years, this has caused the foam binding to crack and crumble, and it takes both hands to even open the ashtray anymore (one to hold the vinyl up, another to pull the ashtray open).

I repaired this once before by pushing some superglue up into the foam and then clamping the vinyl down, and that fix has held for about 10 years, but it's started happening again recently and I'm looking for a more permanent repair. I was thinking about maybe using some gorilla glue or foam adhesive. There is also some model airplane glue that is used for foam wing and tail assemblies which are often made from high-impact dashboard foam.

Any other ideas?

Gorilla glue seems to have worked really well btw. I put some water on my fingers and ran it around the foam and vinyl then put gorilla glue on a straw and ran it around in there too. Then I pulled out the ashtray enough to act as a clamp, wedged a pocket knife on the lighter so that the middle of the ashtray was highest, and left it alone for a few hours. The glue foams up and expands when it's pressurized and wet so it filled in really nice.

i second the gorilla glue....its as strong as can be

I have the same problem but was told all that foam is rotted into about dust and theres nothing to glue the vinyl onto. I use my thumb to hold the vinyl in place while pulling the ashtray out with my fingers. The previous owner didn't smoke and kept his phone in there is what ruined it to begin with.