I've ALWAYS cleaned my interiors with alcohol on every car I owned. So I was cleaning my F350 and wanted to wipe down the dash, so I used a rag with alcohol. I've done this on 20+ cars in the past and NEVER had a problem.

However, on the F350, it took off all the interior paint! It was subtle enough that I didn't realize it until I got through about half the dash front. I thought I was just taking off dirt.

My wife is pretty much in tears that her dream car is ruined.

I don't know what to do, as far as if I can paint it or if I have to buy all new interior panels.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is there any way to paint the dash, and if so where can you get matching paint? Is there any other ideas anyone has?

I'm really not a dumb guy, but it sounds dumb in retrospect. I know I should have tested a small area first. I did test a small area, but I tested the grey part and not the tan part. The grey part was fine



Man I can't believe I'd do something so stupid...

 

I was waiting for someone to say "Search is your friend" but I have done that.

Here's what I know:
Interior color appears to be: PM-19M547-0003H based on what I read at http://www.fordparts.com/fileuploads...file/paint.pdf

Others have mentioned buying touch up paint and I think thats what I'm going to try to do.

The problem is, I can't find a place that does interior touch up paint. When I search at the parts shops, they list it but say it is "discontinued". I can order it from "Ford Parts", OEM but they say its been discontinued and it will be an outstanding order- that IF they find the part they will then bill me. The problem is when I try to order it says there are no ecommerce certified dealers within 100 miles of me, and they can't ship it.

I read some posts talking about buying from "SEM" and getting a flex modifier, but I can't find any place that sells interior plastic SEM paint with flex modifier, even if I follow other forum links, nor can I find a direct match for sure to the Camel color. Any ideas?

 

That's a sad story! I can imagine you and your Wife are upset.

In my research on interior colors, I've never found OEM paint for this purpose. It may exist, but I don't know where. You COULD send a small part with the original color off to someplace like AutomotiveTouchup.com and they might be able to mix up rattle cans of it for you. They do an excellent job with exterior touchup paint. I'd try to contact them first, though to see if this process would be possible.

The other alternative might be to try Krylon Fusion spray paint. You won't find an exact color match, but you will likely find something close that would look good if you painted everything that was painted in the color that was damaged. Fusion is designed especially for plastics, and it is a durable paint. It needs minimal surface preparation before use. Naturally, you'd want to take everything to be painted out of the vehicle, and that might be quite a chore.

There may be some local paint mixing places where you live that could match the color too. Check the yellow pages.

Good luck!

- Jack

 

Wow that sucks, sorry to hear.

If this was me personally, I would swing by a body shop and ask for an opinion, maybe they can fix it up or at least give you advice.

Looks like you have a 2008, so the "good" thing is maybe you can buy some interior pieces on a salvage truck in a junkyard or something last resort?

 

I had good luck with Colorbond interior paint on both a pillar gauge pod and an overhead console, matching the tan interior on my '99.

The problem I see is that you'll most likely need to remove the parts to paint them properly. If you're going to the trouble to remove the dash, I'd be tempted to price out a used dash, which would probably give you a tougher and better matched paint job.

Oh, and I did the exact thing on a '72 Caddy I once owned ... Fortunately I learned the lesson on a $500 car.

 

use the wife's olive oil from now on.

 

Ford's Tan dash paint has cracking/chipping issues on its own with age, you probably just helped the process along.

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...Interior-Paint

 

Good luck getting that fixed man. Do you have pics how bad it is?

 

It's not really truck related, but I can share an example of this...

We've got these really nice Avaya VoIP phones at my work, and for the most part they hold up great. Yet, we still have ignorant ones that like to spill coffee, water, lemonade, etc in their phone... but I have one that is very special... you see they like to use Clorox wipes and alcohol wipes on EVERYTHING! Including their $1200 desk phone. One day I got a call saying their phone quit working on them... I go check it out, and they stripped the paint right off the phone, and shorted it from the liquid going inside. They said they don't know if it was from the alcohol or the Clorox wipes... and I didn't even ask...

A word to the wise... use common sense when cleaning painted surfaces and electronics with these substances.

 

use 50/50 purple power and water next if it's really nasty. If not 4:1 APC+ will be sufficient for a well kept vehicle.

 

I've often used Windex or a "citrus" cleaner.

- Jack

 

Sorry to hear this happened. What percentage isopropyl alcohol were you using? I understand you've done this for years, but that stuff seems a bit harsh for just wiping the interiors plastics down!

I love isopropyl alcohol, but have definitely removed a few coatings (phone screen protectors, etc) when I've used it.

 

Alcohol? Sorry but thats the dumbest idea ive ever heard and not even the slightest bit surprised! Even if you've used it before what car dash is that dirty to need alcohol to clean it?? Secondly isn't common sense to test a small inconspicuous spot first instead of blasting through the entire dash lmao I know this is a old post but i just had to say something! Next time maybe try acid then you wont have a dash left to worry about lol

 

New guy, aren't you helpful! Brought up a 6 month old thread to call someone dumb? Good work.