Unless I misread Mike's original post, the bass has already been converted. Yes? No? To answer the original question, width at the nut should be 51 - 52 (I'm European-trained so I'm a millimeters guy) at the least. Might be tough to graft a wider neck on the old scroll. Ken's right in that modern string technology allows the string spacing to be narrower at the nut, which will work to your favor if you convert the bass. I also suspect that making the fingerboard extend over the sides of the neck is one of those ideas that probably sounds better than it looks or feels. Can't say for sure because I've never done it. I think you might be seeing a negative domino effect setting up here.
In my opinion, for whatever it's worth, the body at 1100 is getting pretty small to reinforce a low B. Most worrisome will be the additional downward pressure on the top caused by modern steel strings. Top grads at 9 are about as low as I would dare go with the extra string pressure unless you know the wood well.
Five-string basses are alive and well in pockets in this country, but you'll probably sell 100 4-stringers for every five-stringer. I also think a number of players are getting tired of the problems with C-extensions, and my solution is to play a bass tuned in fifths. How great an idea this is I won't elaborate on any further since I'm still playing in fourths on the increasingly rare times that I actually play any more.
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