I could use a little advice that is paint related. I have a hood that I want to put on my car in place of the one that is on it but I need to paint it to match the car. I'm tired of all the ridiculous estimates I have gotten just to paint a hood (upwards of $1000) and that is with me providing the color coat paint (I have leftover paint from when the car was painted). So, I want to try and paint the hood myself. I'm not expecting to be able to do a top-notch job but at this point I don't care as long as it looks decent. What I would like to know is what kind of primer do I need to get and how should I prep the hood? The left-over color coat paint I have is Centari acrylic enamel. Also, how do I go about thinning the paint for the sprayer and what about clear coating it afterward? Not sure what other questions to ask as I have never painted any cars before so anything else you can suggest would be appreciated.

If I may ask, what did you find so outrageous about the quotes you were given to paint the hood? Also, what kind of car/what color?

Is the Centari you have left over from a previous repaint of this car?
Is this a metallic or solid color?
Has your leftover paint already been reduced (thinned)?
Is the hood bare metal, primed, original paint, or does it have lacquer on it?
What kind of car?
Centari was a DuPont product, which is now Axalta; find an Axalta auto paint jobber (store) in your area.
Nason is also related, it's their "budget" line, and Axalta products tend to be compatible.
There was an accelerator (catalyst) for Centari (speeds flash & dry times), not really necessary but worked well.
Later, it was called Activator and became recommended as Centari was pretty slow to flash & cure.
Centari was single stage, no clear needed; it can be cleared over, though.
The jobber will be able to recommend compatible products, and maybe tech info.
You might also find tech info online, as I recently did for some old PPG Delstar I have.
You'll need to know mix ratio, flash, recoat & cure times.
Get a couple of mixing cups from the jobber or Harbor Freight: they're marked with various mix ratios.
Prep for paint is also something the tech sheet or jobber can advise; 320 or 400 on a D-A is probably about right.
For a hood, somewhere around a sprayable pint should be enough; don't catalyze more than you need.
If the formula is on your leftover can, preserve that for future reference, though toners have changed since then.
You'll need a dustfree, ventilated environment, a respirator, and a good, consistent air supply.

There's a lot of info to impart, and I'd highly recommend you practice on something to understand application.
Flat rate for just applying color to a hood is about 2.5-3.5 hours, but there's more to it than that, especially if the shop feels the color needs to be blended into adjacent panels.
More info from you will help with recommendations.

I agree, I think $1000 is fair. What's shop rate these days ... at least $90 an hour I think

If I dropped off a car with the hood installed and wanted the hood repainted to color match the existing color, yes, $1000 is reasonable. If I had the hood prepped, took the hood only to a shop and wanted the hood repainted, didn't care about an exact match, then $1000 is excessive. All depends what you want. Don't mean to be a Debbie Downer here but if you have never painted anything before, have none of the equipment necessary, have no one to help you that has some experience, and this is the only thing you will ever paint in your life....spend the money. It only hurts once.

as a full time body man.
from my experiences it usually will coast 2X as much to repair after you messed it up than if a pro just did it from the start.

a not, the body shop where i work the labor rate is $60 hr.

If you are a member of a car club I am sure there will be an experienced amateur that will help you shoot the hood. If not you should find a club to join. Otherwise there are many do it yourself videos and books you can read. Since you are using leftover paint that matches your existing paint job if you mess it up you will have wasted the matching paint. From what you have posted you will probably not be successful the first few tries.

Go over on yellow bullet and go to the paint section. Ask those guys over there, you may get some help.

Regular body shop rates around here (N. Idaho & Spokane) are $54-$60.
Specialty/resto/hot-rod builders are $90-$125.
Materials charges are around $28-$30 per hour.
For spraying out a customer's paint as a butt-match on a hood, you'd be around $450-$500.
If the OP has nothing but the paint, and no experience, it's well worth $500 to do it once and professionally.
As he hasn't answered my questions, I'm hesitant to expound further...

I agree that $500 is more like it.

$1000 may be their polite way of telling you they really don't need the work.

No way would I pay $1000 to have someone spray a hood. Since you have alot of questions and sounds like you haven't done this before I'd find someone who has and will do it on the side. To many variables to screw up, but I'm sure you should be able to find someone to do it cheaper than 1K just might take some searching.

$500 is more along the line of what I was thinking. Your probably right on your second comment too.

Dart Swinger.

It sounds like you have never painted a car, or car part before. To me, that means you probably don't have the equipment you need to do the job, and you are intending to "learn" through this experience. If you believe more painting is in your future, it may be worth the expense to get the equipment and have a go at it. Then when you get sick of looking at the mess you created the 1st time out, you will be prepared to sand it down and try again, then do it again until you get to where you are happy. It may be a $1,000 learning experience that if you keep doing it won't matter.

However, if you suspect this is going to be your one and only paint job, pay the pros to do the job, it will be much more cost effective. I don't see how you buy or rent the equipment you will need, and then buy the additional supplies your going to need, and then learn to paint what could be a great job, or a mess of a job, for less money then paying a pro with professional results would cost.

I've done some of this stuff before, painting even a Dart hood and not dragging the hose across, and then get an even smooth coat, takes time to learn. If the paint is metallic, you will be doubling your learning curve. Gene

It really depends, I’m about done blocking a barracuda fastback. I use PPG products which are very expensive, but the P sheets have basically all the info you need. A quart of dplf epoxy primer with catalysis is over $100. How flat is the hood? Does it need bodywork. Primer/surfacer? Don’t get me wrong you can do it yourself, but attention to detail is VERY important.