Bear with me, because this is probably a simple question, or an impossible one to answer. I'm trying to strip the trashed parts off of my late 70's/ early 80's Raleigh road frame, and put on a single speed freewheel.

The problem is, I can't get the chainline. I've respaced the rear axle until the freewheel's pushed all the way over to the dropout, and I've flipped over the BB spindle so that the short end is on the drive side (per Sheldon Brown). I can't put the chainring on the inside of the spider now because there is so little clearance that the bolt would rub on the chainstay. The chain is now within a couple of mm of being straight, but it's not quite right, and I think I'm going to have to redish the wheel back the other way to get the tire centered. That is, the flatter side of the wheel will be on the non-drive side.

So, have you ever converted a frame like this one? Is my frame screwy, or were all of these made in a way that makes conversion to SS difficult? What would you check? I feel like there's got to be something obvious that I'm missing. I have a feeling that someone else would take one look at the frame and say, "Hey, you idiot! You're trying to put the chain on the left side of the bike!" And I'd realize that there really isn't a problem, and the answer was obvious all along. (and no, that, in particular is not the problem)

Thanks!
KTK