If you have been convinced to become a Shia, then simply see by which faction of Shia are you convinced, the same reason that make you convert from Sunni to Shia will also guide you select the right choice for you, and Allah will not expect from you more than you have been given ability (just be sure to try your best).
وَلَا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۖ وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَابٌ يَنطِقُ
بِالْحَقِّ ۚ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
And We do not lay on any soul a burden except to the extent of its
ability, and with Us is a book which speaks the truth, and they shall
not be dealt with unjustly. [23:62]
- it is impossible that the difference between two sects be only their Imams, different Imams will guide to different ways:
وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا وَأَوْحَيْنَا
إِلَيْهِمْ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَإِقَامَ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءَ
الزَّكَاةِ ۖ وَكَانُوا لَنَا عَابِدِينَ
And We made them Imams who guided (people) by Our command, and We
revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and
the giving of the alms, and Us (alone) did they serve [21:73]
وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ ۖ وَيَوْمَ
الْقِيَامَةِ لَا يُنصَرُونَ / وَأَتْبَعْنَاهُمْ فِي هَـٰذِهِ
الدُّنْيَا لَعْنَةً ۖ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ هُم مِّنَ الْمَقْبُوحِينَ
And We made them Imams who call to the fire, and on the day of
resurrection they shall not be assisted. / And We caused a curse to
follow them in this world, and on the day of resurrection they shall
be of those made to appear hideous. [28:41,42]
If two Imams were exactly guiding similarly then what was their differences. So focus on what they guide to, what they rule and judge based upon, if they have been given gifts (like knowledge) from Allah as all the Shi'ism believe that Imam and rulers are chosen by Allah. If you saw reading their Ahadeeth makes you feel Allah, brights up your mind, and make you feel closer to Allah then you can rely on such Imams better, and if you understood that the rules go well with your Dunya'ish desires then stop following them until you can research more deeply about the differences.
- The truth is always self-consistent and if there is only one correct solution then there would be only one self-consistent set of beliefs, so try to find paradoxes in all such sects and think over any single of them if they are resolvable. Once I did something like that and I came to no paradox in Twelvers until it was then resolved for me. This really describes Qur’an and is strongly backed by Qur’an, as was claimed in the Hadeeth of two weighty things (ثقلین).
You said in comment:
you have not even answered the question in the sense off surety as i find the life and teachings of the 4 CALIPHS also to be virtuous and good.
Let me answer this by asking you a question. If is tell you a lie, is there any way to understand it? Of course, yes. No lie will be said unless some contradictory issues will arise subsequently. So let focus on the contradictions rather than what we are simply told. Not necessarily the majority of people care much to diagnose a saying, they simply accept anything they are told if they are somewhat familiar with the narrator, even if the narrator is not completely known and approved, as long as the saying is not very odd to their minds. Let me now tell you a news: Abu Sufyan was indeed too pious from the very beginning, but he was doing Taqiyyah to prepare pagans of Mecca to submit to apostle of Allah! Is this any strange on its own? Have you ever seen Abu Safyan to judge this News? You will accept it if you are told such by Umar, won't you? The same News can be given about any other person, including the four Caliph, how can we judge these news? Because the majority of the companions of the apostle of Allah have approved that? What if there arise some contradictions then? Would you accept what your intellectual power suggests or the suggestion reached to you through books written some centuries ago by those whom you don't know personally? Qur’an itself came to the pagans and although there were some good tidings in the previous Heavenly books but Qur’an itself relied mostly on its own massage. There are many who came to be believers without ever being aware of such good tidings. So Islam recognizes a greater weight for the massage and the intellectual power and the Fitrah, compared to that we discuss who has said what! See how Imam Ali --peace be upon him-- addresses the same issue:
from: وسائل الشيعة، ج27، ص: 135
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي الْقَاسِمِ الطَّبَرِيُّ فِي بِشَارَةِ
الْمُصْطَفَى عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
الْبَصْرِيِّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ عَنْ
مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ الْفَقِيهِ عَنْ حَمَّوَيْهِ
بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ حَمَّوَيْهِ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ
الْمُطَّلِبِ الشَّيْبَانِيِّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ
مَهْدِيٍّ الْكِنْدِيِّ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ عُمَرَ بْنِ
طَرِيفٍ الْحَجَرِيِّ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ جَمِيلِ بْنِ صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي
خَالِدٍ الْكَابُلِيِّ عَنِ الْأَصْبَغِ بْنِ نُبَاتَةَ عَنْ أَمِيرِ
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ع فِي حَدِيثٍ أَنَّهُ سُئِلَ عَنِ اخْتِلَافِ
الشِّيعَةِ- فَقَالَ إِنَّ دِينَ اللَّهِ لَا يُعْرَفُ بِالرِّجَالِ بَلْ
بِآيَةِ الْحَقِّ فَاعْرِفِ الْحَقَّ تَعْرِفْ أَهْلَهُ إِنَّ الْحَقَّ
أَحْسَنُ الْحَدِيثِ وَ الصَّادِعَ بِهِ مُجَاهِدٌ وَ بِالْحَقِّ
أُخْبِرُكَ فَأَرْعِنِي سَمْعَكَ وَ ذَكَرَ كَلَاماً طَوِيلًا حَاصِلُهُ
الْأَمْرُ بِالرُّجُوعِ إِلَيْهِمْ ع فِي الْأَحْكَامِ وَ تَفْسِيرِ
الْقُرْآنِ وَ غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ.
Imam Ali --peace be upon him-- was asked about the discrepancies among
Shi'ite, so he answered: "Verily the religion of Allah is not
recognized through the personages, but instead through the signs of
truth, so first know the truth and you will know its personages. Truth
is the best of opinions, whoever talks about it in open is a Mujahid"
then he continued a long Hadeeth that refer the people to Ahlul Bayt
--peaece be upon them-- in the rules of religion (jurisprudence), description of Qur'aan and etc.
We have a good website here that we can discuss things with each other in peace. We can care about our own beliefs and our brother beliefs without anyone being injured or titled as Mushrik. It's a very nice place to gather witnesses from all the sects of Sunni and Shia and decide which one can be the truth. This has been elsewhere suggested by Imam Ali ar-Redha --peace be upon him-- when he said: "May Allah bless who revive our affair", he was then asked: "how will your affair be revived?" and he replied: "learn from our knowledge and Ahadeeth and teach them to others, since people if are informed of such contents would follow us" [بحارالانوار جلد 2 صفحه 30]
So good to have you here with a background from branches of Shia different than the mainstream Shia. You can input whatever that you like for us to discuss around them from different perspectives. And Qur’an will always be our main shared source, in shaa' Allah. Only let me add here a point and that's it, the Twelver Shia brothers also know that Imam Sadiq --peace be upon him-- first introduced Ismaa3eel as his successor, and all of us also agree upon Ismaa3eel being highly pious, however, the we recognize introduction of Ismaa3eel by Imam Sadiq --peace be upon him-- as a Taqiyyah in the times that declaring Imam Kazim --peace be upon him-- could result in him being murdered, and as you may know Ismaa3eel passed away while Imam Sadiq --peace be upon him-- was still alive, so that some Shia Muslims refused to accept the fact and followed some personal opinions like Isma3eel has not passed away and things like that. It is probable that our history books may have conflicts, so the direct way would still be the fact that every religion stand over its teachings not its personages and we can start talking around conflicts among their teachings.
