I've never swapped rectangle-dash (Standard) for round-dash (Deluxe), since we didn't get Standard dashes here in the US. That is Scott's article.

But the dash MUST be grounded properly. Otherwise the current goes through a too-small harness wire, which cannot handle the power and starts smoking. The real way to ground it is by using the tab at the bottom of the dash:



Wiring Article

Notice right above connector #5 there is a large screw that holds the gauge cluster to the the metal frame of the dash. That's your ground for the Gauge Cluster. There is another one on the other side of the cluster (2 large screws total). Also, so that the dash metal is grounded to the body, the entire dash MUST be bolted to the body (3 screws on top, 1 on left side, 1 on right side).

The other connector above #1 (is this the "female connector" you mentioned?) is the ground only for the Tachometer.