I do the same as Jerry and center the pitch command wheel before turning on the A/P...5.5 turns from either stop.
Strongly recommend you reach out to Jake at Bevan-Rabell. They just IRAN'ed my A/P computers and I'm quite pleased. Jake knows those legacy Cessna components very well.
https://bevanaviation.com/
Also Bob Weber at Webair Consulting.
http://www.webairconsulting.com/