I have a squier project on the go at the moment. Can't answer your question about the wood but mine does sound good for a change of pups, controls/wiring and bridge, a huge improvement to how it was when I bought it.
The wood is probably good enough to work well enough but unlikely to be particularly attractive if you were thinking of stripping it back for a natural look.
I would say go for it, even if it's just to gain the experience of working on an instrument and setting it up etc.