Neil,
  Was the post you saw about a wbx starter?  The starter in the photos
seems to be a different type, from your I-4 maybe?
If you extract what remains of the copper cable from what appears to be a
grommet(?), you might be able to clamp and solder or braze it into a piece
of copper pipe and flatten the other end and drill it to fit on the stud.
 Or maybe use a copper terminal like those used on welding cables.
  On the wbx starters those cables are made of such fine strands that they
can corrode away to dust.  After it happened to me, I started applying very
heavy grease for protection.  On my wbx starter I took it to a rebuilder
and they had to replace the whole field coil because of the way the cable
had been welded to it.

Is the commutator as grooved as it appears in the photo or is it just
discoloration?

Have fun,
Larry A.

On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 3:26 PM, Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all.
>
> This starter worked fine until the positive strap from inside starter
> to solenoid, failed. I suspect that if I replace the part shown below,
> the starter should be ok as an emergency spare.
>
> If I'm not misunderstanding the post, I saw a post in archives saying
> a fellow had replaced that part with a piece of copper pipe.
>
> At point where arrow points to, is the braided strap brazed?
>
> image:
> https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-zKO1TlMtrtY/UxY0aA2t2ZI/AAAAAAAAI5A/u4BuSmQ_3Xg/s512/%252B%2520buss%2520strap%2520on%2520%252788%2520starter.jpg
>
> All 4 brushes appear close in length: ~ 20 mm. Would this possibly
> indicate that the starter has seen low usage?
>
> image:
> https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a_2SBL1kln0/UxY0aLVMv3I/AAAAAAAAI44/zqMFSrVFDQI/s576/%252788%2520starter%2520brush%2520%257E%252020%2520mm.jpg
>
> Thanks, Neil.
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: tubaneil.blogspot.ca
>
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>
> '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"  http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>
> Vanagon VAG *Gas* inline-VR Engine Swap Group:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/d7gd5ej
>