i believe the side to side movement they are talking about is between the distributor and distributor shaft. that will change the point gap as was mentioned. turn the engine slowly untill the points are opened, or trying to open; if they dont open it could be because the distributor shaft is too far to one side (worn distributor bushings) @ that point, see if the point gap can be changed by just moving the shaft.

everybody is ignorant @ something.the more we work together, the less ignorance there is floating around