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I have rebuilt and finished several pieces of cabinetry wood in my '66. I use oak veneer plywood to replace damaged pieces. I then finish it with several coats of Watco Danish Finish Oil in Golden Oak and then spray a light coat of polyurethane to complete it. Everyone that sees the finished product has said they didn't even notice that it was not original, it blended in with the old woodwork.
As for refinishing what you have: First question, this isn't an International model? They had walnut stained wood, IIRC. If you want the golden oak look, you are out of luck really. There's no way to go back to lighter wood. You sand it too much and you wear thru the veneer on the plywood. However, you could reface the cabinet frames. For the rest of panels, quarter inch oak plywood is, well, not expensive, at the home store. OR...you could get the 1/8 inch stuff that Lowes sells for the end panels on their cheap oak cabinets, and resurface some of the non-u-channel bound panels, basically refacing them. Then replace everything else you can't cover with new.
Sounds like a lot of work. Might be cheaper to convert it to a fake International, sell it as such and buy plain trim model. Not that I'd recommend that either.
Or figure out how to live with the dark stuff, by lightening up with accents, lighting and interesting trim, like birch or bamboo edgings, or a new maple surface counter top, edged with walnut. Very striking. Up to you, your taste and your pain tolerance.
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