Success. No hangups at all. I expected all sorts of small problems, but regular hand tools did the job.
I now think there was a preexisting condition with the brakes which was made worse by the pothole impact. My gas mileage is noticeably better, even better than before the impact, and the car seems to coast and accelerate better. Ball joints, axles and steering and suspension linkage all seemed OK, but I do have an intermittent vibration when idling in gear. This is new since the impact, but I will keep an eye on it before giving a blank check to a mechanic to "see what's wrong". My friend mentioned a possible worn motor mount.
In other vehicle news, I also had a check engine light for many months which was identified by the code as a "lean mixture" (P0171), so a few weeks ago I got around to replacing the intake manifold gasket, and the light has stayed off since. This may also be a contributor to the improved gas mileage.
Cars can be a real pain in the ass, but I learn more and more about them with each problem.