oldie to a newie- spreading the dropouts

[madscot13]

in my goal to retrofit my old trek 520, I've come to a bridge I wanted to avoid. In order to move from 7x to anything more hopefully 9 but 10 if I can, I think I've got to spread my rear drops. this is more than I was bargaining for. has anyone done this? or did they force the new rear hub in? these sites say it is possible http://www.vintage-trek.com/refurbish.htm (search SPREADING REAR DROPOUTS) or http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

it seems like the easiest way. call me a scaredy cat but trying to stretch out my frame seems like an accident waiting to happen and if the shop charges me like I think they would then I'll have to go another route in terms of gears.

I also recall talking to a shop guy who made this crazy bike with square wheels and had to spread the forks on the bike but the metal memory kept stretching it back into place. I sort of question the permanence of stretching the drops but it doesn't matter if the hub is there to stop it anyways. I'm going to double check my rear drops out; its pretty late and hard to tell with that blasted wheel in the way.