Howdy from Canada!

Howdy! I'm looking at buying a 92 hiace SC 5spd manual 4x4 with an overheating 3L. The guy selling it rebuild the engine a while back and it's been burning a lot of coolant. There's an aftermarket coolant heater installed as well that was causing him problems.
But my main goal is to do an engine swap with eventual plans to make a winter camper/snowmobile hauler for the great Canadian winter's we get here in Alberta!
I've narrowed down my engine choices to 2: either a vw ALH tdi engine which is comparable in hp and torque to the stock 3L, or a 1KZ-TE swap which has the advantage of being a direct bolt on.
I'm leaning more towards the vw swap as parts availability is much easier in Canada for tdi stuff than jdm stuff, although the conversion process would be more expensive as I would need an adapter plate from diesel converters

Even though the 3L that's in there now does run, I'd like to start fresh with something else

Let me know your thoughts! I'll post some pictures of the potential buy soon.
I look forward to learning about these unique vans!

A little background on my automotive history I suppose: I used to compete in rally cross and stage rally in Western Canada in a 1985 Toyota Corolla gts for a couple of years(car is for sale if anyone is interested!) as well as a 1988 Volkswagen golf gti for autocross and ice racing. I've built the engine and transmission for the gts with help from a mentor who races 86 Corolla as well.

The 1KZ-TE is a great engine for power and torque, but a bit thirsty and the bizarre cooling system (thermostat on inlet) can cause head issues.

No idea about VW's engine, today VW still cannot stop inlet manifold leaks or leaking EGR valves that dump coolant into the cylinders and/or gearbox. This feature haunts the T5 and T6 VWs.

In general the more modern the motor the better, fuel economy will pay for any adapter plate. Space is tight so if you could squeeze in the Renault trafic 1.6L twin turbo van motor that would be the best, very sweet motors after 2007.

Fit a big radiator as the airflow is not great!

Good to know, although I was more thinking of using the 1.9l out of a golf or Jetta tdi as it has similar power output to the 3L,the odd thing is the 1.9 litre puts out more torque than the stock 3L!

Is thete a suitable Toyota lump you can use?

Sometimes it's 'the done thing' sticking to the same make, I can't think of any pressing reason for it however.
Toyota made a decent V6 petrol IIRC, is diesel need for economy of would a simpler/lighter petrol do the job/

V engines are a space hog at the top though, an inline gives you a lot more space.

One of the key reasons I'd want to go vw is that the engines are much easier/cheaper to obtain in Canada. Importing stuff from Japan can be really costly especially since I'm not on either coast.
Also some of the research I've been doing on the 3L and 1KZ-TE suggests that they are prone to head cracking due to overheating/flaws in the cooling systems. Although I'm a complete newbie when it comes to Toyota diesel and diesel in general so I'm not sure where to start looking. Also, this forum seems to be kinda hard to navigate in the phone!

The 1UZ Toyota V8 is a relatively common swap. Tons of info on swapping them into Hiaces. The Ambulance came with them as standard. The 1KZ-TE is a great engine but they are getting old and you really need good and plentiful access to parts with them.

Edit: From memory the 4WD chassis Super custom is an easy fit for the 1UZ. Same mounts as the Ambulance. Not sure how the manual trans affects that if at all.

Haha I remember this vid from 10 years ago..
https://youtu.be/ZdsjvdfM0DA

(Hiace with V8 conversion. Plus the local kiwi accent in full force)