Sal, you say " sheet metal ". To me , that means the stuff that the body panels are made of, thin stuff. Im sure you mean some sheet steel with some thickness to it, right ? Nutserts are the way to go. You could use double sided tape. LOL !! On second thought, please dont do that ! Nutserts and stainless hardware. It would be pretty expensive to reverse though. My concern is if you smack a tree with it, the steel plate may not bend but the quarter or fender isnt strong enough to keep from bending. So you will still suffer damage to the body probably. Now, it may keep the tree away from the side glass or a tailight edge or something like that. I like it though. Do some careful measuring and it could look pretty killer. How would you cut the stuff ? Plasma cutter ? The water jet that Jon uses is the tool to use but we individuals dont have access to a water jet. What are you thinking ?