Is it possible to drill through sheet metal with a hand drill?  I have
cobalt bits and a standard Sears drill.

My front license plate fell off and the screw that kept it on the
front bumper snapped off.  I want to drill another hole into the front
bumper to mount the license plate properly.  I tried to drill a hole
into the front bumper for about 30 minutes and could not.

I've also tried to drill a hole into the pillar where the fire
extinguisher is attached to.  I haven't had any luck here either.

Are there any special techniques?  Or, do I need special tools?

Thanks.

BTW, I also appreciate all the feedback I got about my surf racks for
the Westy.  In a strange coincidence, the guy that sold me the long
board had a set of Yakima gutter-mount racks for sale.  Thanks to
people on this list, I knew about the side-mount fake gutters for
Yakima.  So, I bought the surf racks from the guy and mounted the
racks pretty easily with some parts I picked up from the local REI.