I am offered a Crown Bus with 855 Series Cummins
mid-engine Pancake diesel with a 3-stage Jake Brake,
10 speed manual transmission with overdrive.
What concerns me though is,
are there enough mechanics out there they can handle a
engine like this if I need them, also is it even powerful enough to go places,
I mean all kind of places,
without an hinge or should I stay away,
I myself have no much experience with engines.

forgot to ask if there are spare available to fix the engine
for some time to come

thanks

 

The 855 has been in service a LONG time. The horse power range on a 855 starts around 270 HP and went as high as 475 HP when they had the twin turbo 475. Yours is most likely what is called a small cam. They were the earlier version then they went to a Big cam.

The 3 different stages of the Jake Brake is on stage 1 the center head is just energized, on stage 2 the front and rear heads are energized and stage 3 all 3 heads are energized.

Both the big cam and small cam are very good engines, technology and fuel mileage took over and the 855 series left the automotive market because of that.

Parts that I know of should still pretty much all be available.