Old raleigh cassette/freewheel

I've got my 20+ year old raleigh winner back from my parents garage wall and am giving it a bit of a cleanup and conversion to SS. First job is to get the mechs and cables off and SS the rear wheel. As this is my first conversion I'm a bit clueless.

Firstly on the last point, I need to get the freehwheel off but don't have the tools so I assume that's a trip down to the LBS. For getting the conversion done do I need to get the wheel re-dished or will it be fine (but not optimal) with spacers?

If you dont want to keep the freewheel, look up Sheldon's guide to destructive removal of a freewheel. Basically you get the innards of the freewheel exposed through some brutal screwdiver work so that you got some flat(ish) surfaces available - then clamp it in a ... clamp, then turn the wheel to unscrew. Obviously the freewheel is no-more post removal.