Chris - Welcome to the group. I had similar concerns. Test driving is the key. Over a period of two to three months I test drove more than a dozen Cobras, sometimes driving 3-4 hours to get there. I got most of my leads from Curt Scott's website which is
www.cobracountry.com.
I found the Superformance fit great, bought it, and I don't even have the seat all the way back. That was more than a year ago and I still can't wipe the smile off. Since you're in CA make sure you limit your scope to SB100 licensed cars to avoid possible future nightmares.