I found myself in a similar position. I bought an active bass (Precision Lyte) that had a great neck, decent pickups, faulty electrics and a god-awful finish on the body. First my choices were - move it on for a loss or use it as a project. I had never done anything beyond taking a bass to bits and cleaning it before, so was a bit apprehensive about tackling anything more involved.
But in the end I decided to renovate it - I have the time and considered it a good way to learn about these things. Stripped it (including the painted headstock), refinished it, made a terrible job of that but learnt loads - I'll probably strip it again and do it properly at some point. I then put an expensive J. East pre-amp in it and am really pleased I did as it sounds and plays really nicely. As it cost me more than it was worth I will probably keep it forever but I also 'bonded' with it - having explored every mm I feel I know it quite well and it feels just right picking up and playing now. But one of the big spinoffs was that I have a much greater understanding of how a bass is put together and am no longer afraid of doing my own setups etc.
So, nothing concrete, just some encouragement to have a go from a fellow technophobe numpty. If you have the time and don't need to recoup the cash I'd say go for it!