...Okay, so at the risk of asking a stupid question, does it matter if the horizontal drop outs on a conversion are spread apart further than they should be? I did a search and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, and have been wondering about this for a while. Mine are spread apart further than they would be originally, but so far it hasn't affected anything. Should I be concerned or is it still cool?

Also, eventually I plan on upgrading my wheels to a set of Iro's (aeroheads)....I'm thinking of building up a single speed for my girlfriend for the spring, using the old wheelset (which are the ever craptastic Suzue Jrs/Alex rims, yeah yeah I know)...my question is, is it cool if I just use these wheels for her since a) She's a pretty small/light girl, b) they'll be used as a single speed and thus would eliminate the worry of stripping the fixed threads, and c) I highly doubt she'll ride very hard at all.

I guess the main concern is maintenance, since they aren't sealed bearings and what not, and are craptastic (though they've served me fairly well so far)...I want something that'll hold up for her that she won't have to worry about. Since she's small and light and would be a casual rider, and I'm on a budget, should I not be so concerned about all this?

Do you mean that your dropout spacing is more like 126mm and you have a 120 hub? Yeah, it should be fine. I have the same set-up on my conversion.

No no, not a question of spacing....I mean, an individual drop out, you know how it curves around to make a "c" shape? Or rather, a sideways "U"...so what I mean is, does it matter if the part of the dropout where the axle slides into is spread apart more than it should be? ie, not parallel to eachother anymore.

Does that make any sense?

Ooh. I get it. Umm...I'm not sure. Sorry.

It sounds like you need to align your dropouts, which can be done. A pic would help us see what you are talking about.

I had this happen on my bike as a result of tightening down a wheel with broken locknuts, causing it to bend open. You're going to have trouble keeping your wheel from sliding forward in the dropout, since there's less dropout for your locknut / nut to grab ahold of.
How to close the dropout (assuming it's steel): get a medium sized c-clamp and some thin pieces of wood if you care about your finish. put the surfaces of the clamp on either side of the dropout (the deraileur hanger works well, if you have one, for the bottom contact area) with the wood between the clamp and the metal. Tighten the clamp, and measure the dropout space as needed (you don't want to overdo it). Once it's been bent into it's correct position, it should be good as new.

Bingo, I will give that a shot.

I tried that using just a pair of pliers, but I am not superman.