Long - sorry.
I've been in your shoes, and I met my birth father who had walked out on my and my DM when I was 6 months old. I had the same yearnings and curiosity as you do, particularly about physical features and also my tastes and likes which are different from my DM's. I had a scratch which was begging to be itched.
Your case may turn out to be very different, but for me personally, retrospectively I wish I hadn't found him. We had a 'short' relationship, of maybe 6 months, when I met with him a handful of times. I learnt I had two half siblings, and have subsequently learnt I probably have others too, but he wasn't truthful with me. From the start I asked him to be clear that I didn't want a 'Dad' I just wanted to know and understand who my 'father' was, and he was in agreement with this, but after a while things changed and we both wanted very different things from knowing each other. Just as easily as he pulled away from my life at 6 months old, he pulled away again when I was almost 30, and I've not heard a word from him or my half siblings since.
My own opinion, since subsequently having 2 DC of my own and having a bloody wonderful DH and father to his kids, is that DH couldn't possibly walk away from them no matter what the circumstances he would have to keep some contact (and would certainly fight for that). Before having the DC I kind of 'accepted' my fathers 'rejection' (twice in my life), but since having kids myself I now can't do that, and I would be very happy to never have anything else to do with him and I suspect I never will. I didn't stop to think enough about the fact that he had every opportunity to contact ME all through my 30 years (as does your father if he has kept financial ties) but for some reason didn't.
I also thought that I had prepared myself to be open to whatever sort of person he was - vastly different to me, or the same, or somewhere in between. In your thoughts you make someone your own, and no matter how intelligent, or logical you are, you do do this to some (even subconcious) degree. For me it was a bit of a shocker to be honest that he was nothing like I imagined at all (in a negative way). We were polar opposites. I also found it extremely hard to knit together that the man, the stranger, who was in front of me was my FATHER yet I felt nothing whatsoever for him, and I found it quite crushing that I was able to subsequently have no contact again with him and not care about that - in that respect it would have been better not to have bothered in the first place.
My own personal conclusions were that blood is most definately not thicker than water, and that the person who you 'are' is defined by your upbringing rather than your genes.
I wish I'd had a bit of counselling before doing it (and thats despite being a very level headed, sensible, unemotional adult) there were aspects of it that I'd not worked through and should have done. I was advised to and didn't as I was sure I didn't need it. I was wrong.
Mine is only one possible outcome of many, and I know there are lots of success stories, but proceed with caution would be my experienced advice. Good luck OP.