I also posted this on kia-forums.com.

Hello all. I purchased a 98 Sportage EX 4X4 last month for my wife. It has 124000miles on it now and is pretty nice. I have so far invested over 78hours of labor into it. I live in Valdosta, GA and we bought it via autotrader from Tampa, FL. My wife really fell in love with it on autotrader, mainly because of the color scheme. I don't blame her, its pretty sharp looking. Of course it didn't look like it does now from when I brought it home last month. So far I have done these items:

Under the hood:
Replaced spark plugs
Repainted valve cover (gunmetal)
Repainted intake (gunmetal)
Replace battery (Optima now)
Replaced valve cover gasket
Replaced air filter
Replaced fuel filter
Replaced all accessory belts
Changed oil and filter
Replace PCV valve
Changed front/rear diff fluids
Changed transmission fluid with new filter/screen and gaskets
Removed all exhaust heat shields under vehicle (making rattling noises)

Exterior:
Repainted windshield vents below wipers
Repainted wiper arms
Replaced wheels and tires (Molley 711s wrapped in kumhos)
Replaced rear tire cover

Interior:
Replaced stereo (now has Pioneer cd player and digital sound processor, stacked)
Installed XM satellite
Installed 10" sony xplode woofer
Installed sony xplode and jenson mosfet amps on custom panel
Tinted windows

In addition there were alot of odds and ends that needed repair. But just nit nowd stuff.

Anyways, thanks for a great forum and hope the wife has fun with her new toy as I keep turning wrenches on it.
Here some pics of what we done to it so far:





Steve

hey, pretty nice rig! you do realize, however, that its a 4x4? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

Love it!!! Lots of places for the mud to stick. Are your amps waterproof? Do the speakers atract whales when they are under water with the doof doof music? Do the speakerboxes have built in roll cages?. Can you use the spearkerboxes as PFD's in an emergency?

Again, its the wifes'. So I seriously doubt it will see much off roading. Didn't matter if it was 4X4 or 4X2, she fell in love with the color scheme. But I will maintain the transfer case, front diff and hubs just in case. Thats why there are no plans on lowering this Sportage. Thanks for the props though. Also, the stereo system isn't used for boom booming, its just something I had to do to compete with her previous Bose system she had in her Altima. In fact the stereo in the Sportage didn't even work when we bought, it was laying on the floor board and there was a hole in the dash. Still isn't quite like bose but its suffice, LOL.

I did not see a timming belt on your maintainence items. An important question is, how many miles on the timming belt and if it is much over 60k miles it needs to be changed.

Nice looking outfit. The wheels really compliment the color scheme.

What did you replace the factory speakers with?

Logansportage <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Very Very nice project to be had. Safety first and foremost. Structure first and engine. Timing belt very important as mentioned before...........nice rig. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Timing belt is on the list of things to do but since these motors are non-interface I'm not too worried about it. If it does snap before I get a chance to do the job then I will just line up the marks and re-install a new one. Along with a new water pump.
The front speakers already had been replaced, by previous owners, with some pioneers. The rear are still stock but will most likely get more pioneers.

Thanks again for the props fellas.

Thats the first black on pueter EX I;ve seen. I can see why she fell in love with it. When my wife was driving ours she didn't want all the 4x4 gear on it either so keep it nice and if she get tired of it we will show you how to make it great for off road. I have all the speakers and amps in mine and they didn't take any thing away from the offroad ability. Keep up the good work and get the timing belt done and you will have a good looking dependable Kia that you and your wife can be proud to be seen in.
Dennis

I think you are mistaken-it is an interference motor. I have a '96 parts car with lots of bent valves and a cracked head because the previous owner too thought it wasn't an interference motor. If it's an unknown I wouldn't put it off long. An aquaintance of mine recently bought a car. I told her she should have the t-belt changed right away since she had no idea when it had last been changed. She thought it would wait a few weeks-it broke after 3 weeks! bent valves! Anyway, better safe than sorry.

ks