That grinding noise doesn't sound good, I suspect that the flywheel might have been damaged too when your clutch went. An OEM flywheel is very expensive, you'd be better off getting either a used one from a breaker's or a new lightweight aftermarket one. You could get a garage to have a look at it to see if it really is damaged (something that you'd have thought the people changing your clutch would have spotted). Does it only happen when changing gear ? Where does it sound like it's coming from ?
The noise when reversing might just be the dust plate on the back of the brake disc catching on the disc. It's a metal plate which you can try bending backwards slightly to see if it helps.
Where was the coolant dripping out of the car from, could you tell ? You say the radiator is on its way out, is it from there ? You really don't want a problem where you're running out of coolant, you could soon end up with a damaged engine if it overheats. When you say there was no coolant left at all, where did you look, in the expansion tank or the radiator itself ?
Which traction control light is it that's flashing ? Is it the TRC OFF light or the light with the car skidding ? Do you have any other lights, e.g. the engine check light (the one that looks like an engine) ?