Hub widths, cassettes, and freewheels

[jmdevine]

I'm restoring an old bike (70s or 80s Murray) that was stripped and repainted by a local artist as part of a fundraiser by our local transportation choices group, but have run into one sticky point.
The bike came with a bunch of its old parts, including the wheels, which are rusty and ugly beyond use for this purpose. The rear wheel has a 6-speed freewheel-style hub that is narrower than the 8-speed cassette-style hub I'd like to put on the bike.
***So, the dropouts are too narrow to fit the newer/nicer/cassette wheel.***
My first choice on solving this issue would be to find a narrower freehub body (6 speed or otherwise) to attach to the nicer wheel/hub. Is this possible?
Second choice would be to remove the hub/freewheel from the old wheel and rethread it onto the nicer wheel, but this seems like it would be a huge hassle. Thoughts on that?
I don't care much about speeds/ratios, as this is going to be a bike I don't ride more than once a month or so, I just want the parts to honor the great work of the artist.
Can someone please help with the hub width issues?
Than You,<br />
John
In case you're interested, <a href="http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=742025&l=039e6&id=568104372" rel="nofollow">here's the frame</a>.

[DaveM]

On an old steel frame like this you can 'cold set' (bend) the frame to fit the wider hub. Either by hand or if you want to be more precise:<br />
- get a threaded rod and several nuts and washers.<br />
- Clamp one dropout between two nuts<br />
- put another nut inside the other drop out and thread it out to spread the rear triangle<br />
- go slow and check your progress until you get the needed width for the new hub