When I put the air conditioning system into the truck and turned it on, the engine almost over heated with a quickness so I bought a 3 core V6 brass/copper radiator and fan shroud only to find out the hard way that the fan is not centrally located and that brand new shroud was a wasted purchase.
I put the 4 cylinder shroud back on but, it is too short and did not do a good enough job of funneling the air through the radiator so I put two 7" electric fans in front of the condenser that come on with the air conditioning.
Those two extra fans are staying on the truck and will continue to work with the air conditioning but, the big 16" fan should pull more than a sufficient amount of air through the radiator being it is for 30s model good ol' Ford flat head V8.

Regearing the truck did a lot toward efficiency from 100% better fuel economy to less engine heat. Yes, my mileage actually doubled when I went to 4:88s but, she was only getting 9 mpg and now she gets close to 18 mpg or better.

My 82 Pickup has stock A/C.  After recently doing the timing chain, i decided to not put the fan shroud back in as it was about rusted through.  Might have to get one  though now that I hear you were overheating without it... Haven't been able to run the engine long enough to find out if I need it.

I'll leave it off for now then as an experiment. Thanks for the feedback Mudder

Me buying and installing the electric fan and aluminum shroud was a complete and total waste of time and money, she is back to belt driven can and runs cool enough as is, even on the freeway going up hill on a warm day.

I don't have a shroud or clutch fan on my stock 22r. I have a cheap $30 eBay electric radiator fan, and I have not overheated. My water temp has not exceeded 210°F.

and you get all that extra powah!!! at least like....half a BHP lol

Ran errands all day Saturday with no shroud and it didn't even come close to overheating.  Temps were in the low 80's. I think i'm good...

We deal with 100°+ temperatures on a regular basis and a shroud is pretty much mandatory.
My truck loves temperatures in the 80° range, that is child's play.

As I understand your air conditioner needs a serious clean. That is a typical case. It could be challenging to do by yourself. I have tried once to clean the cabin filter. The most challenging was to find the filter. Finding the filter, you have to decide if you replace it with a new one or clean it. Depends on your money, man. However, I would highly recommend changing it. The most tricky part is to wipe the fan blades.  Of course, I removed the air conditioning condenser, and I couldn't put it back together. My lesson was to call professionals. It doesn't matter if it costs a little bit expensive. The last time I called https://www.airconservicingsingapore.com/ they have done my three-hour work in half an hour.

I disconnected the AC back then in 2017 and then last year fixed the system again with new lines, new condenser, drier and added a condenser fan.
When I initially installed the AC system, I did thoroughly clean the blower and it had clean filter then too. All of the refrigerant leaked out because the AC shop did not replace the o-rings as they were instructed to do last year. I will be finding another AC shop or buying the equipment and doing the job myself.

Hi man! From what I've read, your problem seems pretty complicated, at least to me. I'm not a handyman: every time I have a problem, I prefer to leave it to the experts. While we are on the subject of air conditioning systems, I think I can suggest a great company specializing in AC installation, repair and maintenance. Check it out at https://www.spartamech.co.uk/. It also has a great team of AC engineers: they can design the air conditioner that best suits your desires and needs. I reckon you could find what you need and that you won't be disappointed. Have a nice day!