make-kpkg detects wrong processor type

[Wayne Gemmell <wayneg@ananzi.co.za>]

Hi, I'm trying to make my own kernel useing make-kpkg to solve my earlier 
problems with DMA etc. When I start the first processor family gets answered 
for me as i386. I run an AMD K7 chip and I would like to compile accordingly. 
How do I change this default and what possible implications ,if any, would 
the changes have for the rest of my Debian setup, apt etc?? I've tried 
bash>set HOSTTYPE=k7
bash>export HOSTTYPE
but the hosttype variable stays the same.

Is there an equivalent for this package with a menu interface like make 
menuconfig in normal kernel compilations? It is so much quicker...

Regards
Wayne