Mike, the needle acts pretty normal to me, but I have to say I think your vacuum is maybe just a bit low. Maybe your LSA on your cam is tighter than mine, it's hard to say. But for comparison, here's a shot of my engine with my vacuum gauge. You can see I idle at about 850 and I pull a steady 13". My cam is a solid flat 245/245, .525 at .050 with a 114 LSA and I have it installed advanced about 5 degrees. My carb is the old style Holly 750 (4160). If your engine runs nice, pulls hard, and generally does well then I wouldn't worry about it -- although most people would raise an eye at only 7" at idle. I've used a vacuum gauge for decades, and (obviously) I tune my Cobra with one. It's not as good as an A/F meter, but watching the numbers, and how the needle dances, will help tell you if you have a problem.
