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@clubman
Cold setting the rear fork ends to alter the spacing usually involves resetting the angle of the fork ends so that they remain parallel to the centre line of the frame. There is a frame builders tool to check this.
If the stays are just bent out, the derailleur hanger will not be parallel, and this will detract from the efficiency of the changer.
If you're not a perfectionist, you could just cram the wheel in and see what happens - I suspect it will work fine. As for stress on the chainstays I wouldn't worry too much - cold setting must involve some stress itself.
I don't think chainstay failure is all that common - I've only seen it happen once and in that case there was no question of the frame having been reset. Incidentally, the bike was held up by the chain - its owner (my Mum) asked me to have a look at the bike because she thought the chain was too tight.
As for going from 7 to 10 sprockets, I find that 5 are quite enough!