Just zipped through this thread. I've been flying IFR occasionally for 42 years, the majority of that time in airplanes that had no autopilot. The 73 Skylane I trained in, although equipped with most other bells and whistles of the time, had no autopilot. Only one of the 4 airplanes I've owned had an autopilot. None of the airplanes I flew on charter or taught instruments in had autopilots. Even in the few I've flown with autopilots, I haven't used the autopilots except as wing levelers while I looked at a chart. I may have done one or two coupled approaches in training, but never for real. So I don't mind hand-flying in IMC, because the alternative most of the time has been that I couldn't have gone. I've had my present airplane for 13 years, no autopilot, and there have been many hours in IMC in it.

All that as background, I think a light GA pilot who absolutely relies on the autopilot to the extent that it's a go-no go item for flying in IMC should re-evaluate whether to fly in IMC at all. Autopilots are probably the number one glitch item in light GA airplanes. That means that on any trip, the likelihood of the autopilot failing is greater than the failure of any other item. The pilot absolutely must be prepared at any time to take over.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against autopilots or those who use them. There have been times when I would have liked to have one, especially on longer trips. But I'd never advise anyone to rely on them to work 100% of the time.

Cary