New here. I recently bought an 88 F-250 that I’m slowly working on fixing up. I looked at the thread about dash pad repair but didn’t find what I’m looking for. My truck has a bunch of dried glue/epoxy on the dash from a previous owner who glued some sort of cover on. Anyone ever tried to get hardened glue off the dash? I can’t figure out any way to get it off without removing the color of the dash itself. Has anyone tried using car interior paint on one of these truck dashboards? At this point I think getting all the crud off and then repainting might be the best option. It’s the light gray color. Any advice is appreciated.

Picture of the outside of the truck below, warming up on a chilly morning last week. No it wasn’t a forest service truck, the previous owner chose this color.

 

I can't comment on removing the glue but I have painted interior pieces before...

I used sem paint that is for interior use. It was a long time ago but I just looked at their website and it looks like they have the same products more or less.

Basically like any painting project preperation is everything. Its also important to use the right paint and primer and or adhesion promoters.

I remember having to test the plastic pieces to determine the kind of plastic it was and then using the right primer or adhesion promoter. The test was basically using a small amount of solvent to see if the plastic was affected by the solvent. If it got soft with solvent (can't remember what solvent they recommended) then you use one product... if it didn't use a different product...

I was very very skeptical... but the finished product was far and above what I was expecting and better than what I've seen from some of my buddy's cars. I can't remove the paint with my finger nails at all... honestly looks like new and people can't believe I painted it...

I'd say using the right paint and primers with good preparation will give you a very nice result.

 

I should add that I did paint my dash while in the truck... just masked everything

 

I, also, did mine with the SEM colorcoat. Very durible ans easy to apply. Although you lose the fabric type grain, i used rustoleum textured paint , any color works, on the base coat before painting with the SEM> Matches the instrument cluster grain and looks good. RESTOMAN 92

 

I would start with something pretty simple like wax/grease remover and work up to a lacquer thinner to remove the glue.

You have no worry about removing the color of the dash as the plastic is the color, it is not just painted