Help with this problem

[Broid]

Howdy all, been a while since I posted anything here, but need help with this image. The problem is obvious...Don Garlits looks too happy! Just kidding, how do I deal with the light strip down the side. I've tried a number of thing I could think of, that took about 5 min. Any help would be greatly appreciated, yup, that's me next to Big Daddy, the kid with the emo hair. (Way before my time)

BTW, I'm using PSCS4

Thanks in advance!
Brian

[TerryB]

Best solution I've encountered so far:
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=304

[Steve13]

I would just crop that edge off.

[Swampy]

I'm with Steve. Crop the edge off. The back of the car is distracting enough as it is.

[Broid]

Yea, crop the edge off is the easiest, but I was really hoping to restore the front end of the car...outstanding tutorial TerryB, I'm going to work with that right now. Thanks for all the tips, we'll see what I can do.
Brian

[Kermy]

you might need to do a bit more. i think you've got the added problem of a double exposure happening on that edge...

[TerryB]

Brian:
Let us see how it turns out when you're happy with it.

[Broid]

Yes, there is some double exposure issues. The biggest problem I have encountered is the loss of information in some of the yellow area. When I look at that area in the different channels (see the tutorial Terry suggested) there is a definate loss of data in some spots, not the whole but spots. I tried some of the tutorial and tried masking off the area with a marquee tool and working it from that angel too. But when adjustments start being made the loss of information in those spots gets exacerbated. I've ended up cropping the shot but was really hoping for restoration. Don't know what else to do really. Seems like if the information is missing or corrupted it can't be restored. Am I throwing the baby out with the bath water?

Brian

[0lBaldy]

filled a new layer with the inverse of the yellow
mode color lower opacity till OK
Merged all onto a new layer
set history to this layer used multiply @ about 50% to darken the stripes, normal at low opacity to correct
Cloned the hard line and blended with the clone tool everything else
darkened corners to cover mistakes
lightened the faces using a masked screen layer

you should get better results with the original

you could always make one with the front end - PLUS - a cropped version for recognition