Anyway, I think I’m going to buy that N-W 64 bcd Wolf Tooth 26t inner, and I’ll take off the outer (big)ring, and I think I understand how my crankset is constructed better now.

It looks like I can leave the middle ring where it is (until I decide if this setup works- and the key is just to make sure the bolts work out, but Wolf Tooth says this small ring can be mounted using existing crank bolts. Then maybe I get a bash guard for the 104 middle position later.