I spent a bunch of time doing some reading and talking to people that have used these motors yesterday and i've come to the conclusion that this is a very good idea.
I've also put a bit more thought on simplifying things a bit to have a more successful project.
i think the current plan is as follows:
1)keep the pony motor idea with the 5 speed manual transmission and the AWD transfer case to send extra power to the rear differential.
2)use the volvo JType Overdrive i have sitting here as a lightweight 2 speed electronically shifted transmission 1:1 and 0.79:1 (configured to shift to high gear when the turbine reaches 98% automatically)
3)use a boat v-drive to rotate the power and allow for a final gear ratio tweaking
4)use *ONE* JFS100 turbine
control strategy for now will be an on/off switch and a "GO-BABY-GO" button that will ramp the turbine to 100%
once that setup is proven to work i'll see about buying a 2nd JFS100 turbine and integrating it.
so, that said, if anyone wants one or two Tiernay TT-10 turbines i have a pair for sale