On my A612, Sep 1984, I'm thinking of swapping out the lower trans housing that uses the lip seal because I don't want to touch the agitator, inner and out drum because if it's anything like the A712, Dec 1988, I won't have a washing machine for awhile. I had to cut off the mounting stem and aluminum nut. The agitator was difficult to remove.
I'm thinking of hoisting the 2 drums and entire trans up to access the lower housing for replacement or change the o ring. I don't think I want to use my A712 lower housing for the A612 because I'll need it for the rebuild.
So I guess I'll try and locate a high quality o ring from Japan or Germany. My A712 came with a made in Japan NSK bearing in it which is still good. The A612 has a Hoover-NSK bearing, which was failed joint venture and that bearing feels like it's dry of grease.
Fortunately, NSK still makes the same upper bearing and that bearing seems to be still turning ok, I still feel the grease when turning. The new NSK bearing has a little more stiffness from fresh grease I suppose. I'll be using the NSK grease for the other lower bearing that's not in production anymore I believe. Whirlpool sells a $8 replacement bearing made in China.
The A612 is what I'll use to wash my clothes until I finish the A712 pitman rebuild.
Also, any idea why my A612 has a brief screeching noise when the spin cycle starts. And I've already installed a new brake assembly, re-packed the lower bearing and installed the new Chinese upper bearing. Later I'll replace the Chinese bearing for the NSK and re-pack the lower bearing with the NSK grease as soon as it's delivered from Japan in a couple of months.