Transfer Garageband project with VU meter issue to a new empty project

I have been troubleshooting the loss of sound in a project in Garageband. Static mix was in progress when sound lost. Sound IS intact in other GB projects and Mac. Have re-booted several times. All sound settings for Mac and GB reviewed and correct. Came to conclude that the VU Meter plug-in downloaded from TBProAudio is at fault. Unable to disable it because now the Audio Units box is greyed out. (???) With all the work that has gone into editing and now working on static mix, I would like to transfer the project as a whole to a new "empty project" so that I can pick up from where I left off. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]