Time to give up on the Thermoquad?

What was the sealer used for?
If the sealer is getting gooey, some of it could be getting draged into the metering system. When the car is off, the heat stays behind and may be hardening, creating an obstruction.

For the price of gaskets (AKA Rebuild kit) it would be worth taking a bit of time to clean it up and out well.

Your light throttle surge/miss is the fuel curve outta wack. That condition is "Lean"