crazyjoe, that’s exactly the fastener that I was talking about, and have seen in Sauder products. TV stand, rolling table, and swing chaise.
Yep, the ones marked “8x”. The round part that sits in the hole is metal and the long thin piece seems to be metal and plastic.
I’ve assembled furniture with locking cam fasteners, and never felt that they made a very strong joint. In this case, where the substrate has been weakened, I’d be inclined to add a couple of drywall screws to the area neighboring the compromised screws. There might be some challenge making the visible screw heads pretty (if that matters), but it would be a lot stronger.
Oh… I used the epoxy and it worked. I kept the open ‘box’ somewhat rigid during the raising process by nailing in a temporary diagonal support.