Could always take it one step further and generate the chmod BEFORE you set them all to chmod 666, that way reverting back would be easier
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.fileperms.php
Might take a bit of work in admin/patch.php, but would be nice to have, to go along with the writeable permissions
Kudos as always to funky for a must needed addition to the patch/upgrade process.
And if you don't have SSH access to your server, I'd suggest learning some basic commands, or easiest, send the chmod list to your hosting provider.
http://www.linuxhelp.net/newbies/