I have a very old Shakespeare, staggered ferrule, casting rod, model 1563 M, dated FBE (Jun 1959) that has significant sentimental value for me. However, I have never learned (and don't want to) use a baitcaster, and the cork on the grip has failed. When I am not using a fly rod, I use a spinning rod. My desire is to convert it to a spinning rod by stripping off the blank, changing out the guides, and adding a spinning rod grip and reel seat.

It appears to have been a high quality rod as it seems to have a stainless steel ferrule and hardware. I think it is worth saving in remembrance of an old friend.

Looking for recommendations and advice as to how to proceed since I am not a rod builder. Has anybody done anything like this...anybody want to? Where should I look for materials if I am to proceed?

I would basically restore it and find something else to use for spinning. Altering it just really removes the sentimental value to me

Same here. That rod could be restored or touched up and used with a closed-face, push button spinning reel, perhaps one of that time period. Both were designed for heavier lines and lure weights than we often think of today for use with open-faced spinning reels. At the very least, first take a typical open-face reel and a lure you would envision using, tape the reel in a reasonable guides-down, under position on the grip, and try it.

+1 to bulldog's suggestion - the UL baitcasters are oddly enough much easier to cast than the older ones, most likely due to the light spools. Getting a bulldog build would also give you the new mag brakes, once tuned by Ron it will be a fine easy caster.

or the spincast idea. There are quite a few old Shakespeare spincasters available, a bit of maintenance and they'd be fine to fish. Personally I run an old Abumatic 120 when feeling spincasterish, those are mechanically a bit complex but very solidly made.

Typically those handles will have the cork glued on to a metal shaft, so should be straightforward to cut the bad cork off, sand and mount some new cork. New cork available from Matt at Proof Fly Fishing.
I'd go for the Grade B cork rings, cheap and will match the original pretty well ;-)

You could also make it a baitcast / spin rod.. what I'd do is look for a metal female ferrule that matches the lower male one. Mount that ferrule on a bit of scrap graphite or fiberglass, and build a spin rod handle on that. Now you have two handles for the rod, a baitcast trigger one or the spin one..
Janns Netcraft has a selection of old-fashioned metal ferrules. The problem here is finding a match, that lower male is probably quite thick.
Fly Shack has a couple of larger ferrules too, up to 9.5mm, hopefully that will be enough.

All I can contribute here is that I started baitcasting this year and am loving it. It is a bit like fly casting in that it requires practice and there is a lot of info to pick up. Which can be fun if, like me, you enjoy learning new things. Not to mention the prospect of acquiring shiny new gear

Ron and Doug are great resources of info, too.

I've been using baitcasters on some of my Sierra trips this past summer, where in the past I might have used a spinning reel instead, and have caught some nice trout. I've also caught some of the largest bass I've ever seen in the local reservoir.

I’d vote for keeping it as a baitcaster and just learning how to baitcast. Just a matter of finding the right reel. Worse-case, you can put a spincaster on it, as Tom suggested.