Hello,

My Venture seems to be having a lack of power. I have had assistance from experts in setting the needle on the OS32, checking the blade pitch, setting the pitch and throttle curves, etc. and all seems to be set correctly.
I had heard of problems caused by using RTV-type sealant to mount the muffler, which I had done, so I decided to replace with a paper gasket (engine gasket material, that looks like cardboard, from the auto parts store). When I removed the muffler (MVPV0102), I noticed that the muffler opening is quite a bit smaller(~20%) than the engine opening. The folks at Heliproz said the original TT muffler that comes with the Venture kit is a piece of poop and they sent me the MVP instead (free of charge). The TT muffler opening is exactly the same size as the engine. As a result of using the MVP, a "pool of goo" has formed at the bottom of the joint between the two where the muffler opening is smaller and cuts off the bottom portion of the engine opening. This is the same at the top but of course no goo forms there because of gravity.

My questions are these:
1. Is this bad ?
2. Is the goo causing problems ?
3. Is the smaller opening restricting proper airflow ?
4. How do I tell whether there is an obstruction inside the muffler (pieces of RTV, excess goo, etc.) ? I blew into both sides and air seems to pass through fine (BTW, fuel residue sure tastes awful ).
5. If I continue to use the MVP, anything I should keep in mind when installing the gasket ? Should I use the metal gasket that came with the MVP (I don't understand its purpose) ?

Thanks for your input on this.