[MrE]

With my power train swap, I have to meld old school to CANbus. All communication to the new motor and transmission uses the J1939 CANbus protocol. J1939 is nice in that it is an industry standard for commercial trucks/busses/heavy equipment. Cars are NOT standardized, GM, Mercedes, Ford, Toyota, etc. all use their own codes. That's not to say I can't use a Dodge pickup steering column in my bus, just means that I would have to buy and program a programable CANbus controller to interpret the Dodge signal and translate it to the appropriate J1939 signal. This isn't rocket science, it's what car guys have to do to repower a Ford with a Duramax, but it does add an additional cost and labor.

I will begin my search at a heavy-duty salvage yard, but if I don't find what I want, I'll continue my search at an auto salvage yard.

CANbus is really nice. It only requires 3 wires to communicate with anything on the vehicle, CAN high (+), CAN low (-), and a shield (ground). So a single shielded CANbus wire running from the front of the bus to the back can control any function needed. This is a very simplified version of what the Spyder controls do for newer Newells.