[d brune]

When I lived in Houston (more like south Katy) my Coupe had no issues what so ever. Car is a 5-spd car with a healthy NA 331 (457 fwhp) and AC. Cooling is a stock FoMoCo water pump, Fluidyne aluminum radiator (P/N FHP30-93MU), Mark VIII fan, and the dreaded "oh God it takes so long to get and his customer service is terrible" (I've never had an issue) DC Control FK75 fan controller. Car never hit over 185 deg (Autometer electric temp gauge) in traffic with the AC freezing me out. I have this setup on my TBird as well with the only difference being it has a Griffin radiator and the 351W which is also pretty healthy.

I will say that a buddy of mine battled a heat issue in his 86 GT for a couple summers and he ended up stumbling on the issue. He was power washing the engine bay and decided to pull the fan and shroud and backwashed the radiator on low pressure. Some crap from the radiator landed on the backside of the AC condenser. He then pulled the radiator and washed the AC condenser out on low pressure and all kinds of crap came out of it (dirt, small rocks, and other crap). Put it all back together and low and behold the car ran cooler and the AC worked alot better. Airflow = cooling...ha ha ha!!!

When I pulled the dash apart on the Coupe to replace the heater core I took a tooth brush and cleaned the AC evaporator core. Pulled a small pile of lint and dirt off of it and ever since the blower moves a lot more air. Food for thought there but only if you are willing to pull the dash apart which is not fun but can be done in a day.

Anyhow, good luck with that triple digit heat in AZ.

 

[d brune]

My 2020 F150 Coyote runs 195-200 max on the highway in the summer and in town during the summer with the AC running all out is 205 max. I have the digital temps (coolant and trans) displayed on my dash with a Forscan change.

 

[d brune]

If memory serves me right you can trim 3/4" off the Mark VIII shroud which is what I did. I did this on the Coupe with the 302 based motor and on the TBird with a 351 based motor. TBird has a universal Griffin radiator in it which is thicker than the Fluidyne radiator in the Coupe and everything clears. Both cars have tubular K-members with the motors set in the stock location.

Another nice thing about the Mark VIII fans is you can replace the motor (VDO P/N PM9032 ) for about $60 (RockAuto). Remove the original rivits, install new motor, attach to shroud with SS machine screws, flat washers, and nylock nuts. Did this on the Coupe about 5 years or so ago and zero issues.