Refinishing a neck

Hey. Question about necks.
If I were to buy a Squier strat, then removed the neck finish, sanded down the neck to smooth it, reapply a finish of my choice, polished the frets; would it be possible to make it play like anything like an American strat (fretboard aside for the moment)? Or is there something beyond this - beyond simply the amount of effort n time taken to finish a neck?
Or perhaps taking it further - could I buy any old P.O.S. n do this?