Since the Iver Johnson was a commercial venture and most, except the early models, were made with non USGI parts I'd vote to refinish it. If the pitting and wood aren't to bad you could just shoot it as is or have the metal blasted and Duracoated or paint it yourself with BBQ Paint or some of the newer spray paints available. The wood is easy to strip with the Citrus type strippers and then just rub in some boiled linseed oil thinned with turpentine. Whatever you decide basically just do with it as you want and enjoy it.
OK, what is the rifle to you? not being a smart ass just asking...check yourself...if you want to keep it as a piece of shooting history please leave it alone. If you mean to create a new firearm out of it then do so at your leisure. Some folks would crap their pants to see someone tear up a nice M1 by "restoring" it. that removes the historical value at times. but if you plan on rebuilding any way..go for it. I have a "new" gibbs 1903 and i know its not original but i shoot it anyway...same for my old 50's era 8mm Hakim that looks like it was left in the desert before being shipped to me. Im a bit of a history junky and like my old rifles the way they were intended to be used. That way my peers and myself can fully appreciate our new fangled AR's and mocked up AK's.