Downgrading from Lion 10.7.5 to Snow Leopard 10.6 w/o Time Machine

I've been trying to solve this issue for a bit, and would appreciate any fresh perspectives on the issue.
I recently purchased a 2006 Mac Pro 1.1. It has a dual 2.66Ghz Xeon processor. I'm fairly sure nothing has been customized in the machine hardware-wise, and that it is in the original configuration apple sold it with in 2006.  
The machine arrived with the Lion 10.7.5 OS on it, which was incompatible with some of the software plug-ins I use for editing audio, so I decided to re-install Snow Leopard 10.6. I inserted my install DVD like I would normally, and was greeted with the error message "OSX cannot be installed on this computer, please use version 23.1.1".
I checked out the forums, and seeing that this was a common problem (with what seemed like an easy fix), proceeded to try and install anyway. I booted from the DVD by holding "C" on start-up. After booting and asking what i wanted to use as my language, the error message "Mac OSX cannot be installed on this computer" was displayed. Thinking this was another glitch, I clicked "restore from back-up, then managed to use Disk Utility to wipe my HD and zero out the contents. I reformatted my HD to Mac OS Extended Journaled, Re-partitioned it, and then reset my NV or Pram (Command+option+P+R) until i heard the start-up noise twice.
Next, I restarted the computer, booted it from the disk again, and crossed my fingers it would let me install. No luck.
I don't have a second mac pro to clone, or a Time Machine back-up from this machine (as it is brand new to me). Furthermore, it's previous owner left me with no restore disks, or usb sticks to even put Lion back on (which i don't want to do anyway, but would at least make the machine functional until i can correctly install 10.6SL). 
I do have a spare 2009 imac to work with in the meantime, with Snow Leopard, though I'm assuming attempting to clone that drive would screw with the drivers and firmware in the Mac Pro. Are there any tricks to re-install my OS without using a Time Machine back-up or clone? I have the DVD, my machine just doesn't seem to want to install from it. The nearest repair shop is several hours away.
I'm at a loss for what to try next. Any ideas?

The following will only work on a Mac that is capable of being booted by a retail Snow Leopard DVD. Fortunately, you can do the following on your model should you prefer. As an alternative you could simply create a second partition on the hard drive and install a fresh copy of Snow Leopard without having to erase the drive.
Downgrade Lion/Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard
  1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer
      loads select your language and click on the Continue
      button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the
      Utilities menu.
  2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the
      mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status
      of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then
      the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART
      info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on
      the Partition tab in the DU main window.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions
      from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS
      Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the
      partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on
      the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
  4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.  If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion/Mountain Lion files.

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    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2186
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/19444837#19444837
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/18085179#18085179
    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1163160

    Phone AppleCare and order the computer's original disks.
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  • I tried to install a new hard drive using Snow Leopard to back up with Time Machine. When I installed the new HD I installed Leopard (10.5) on it and tried to use time machine to restore the backup I had made using 10.6. Kernel panic screen occurred.

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  • HT3275 I have attached an external hard drive via usb to back up my OSX Snow Leopard.  When I open Time Machine and click set up time machine, I then click Select Disk but there is nothing to select. No information is in the box. I do have Airport Extreme

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  • Trying to install Snow Leopard, can't b/c time machine using hard drive

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  • Can i upgrade to 10.6 snow leopard then restore files with time machine?

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  • Upgraded to snow leopard and now all my time machine backups are gone

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    Christine Rios wrote:
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  • Permission issues after Snow Leopard clean install, Migration Assistant+Time Machine restore.

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    I'm not familiar with Lightroom.
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  • How can I unistall Lion and go back to Snow Leopard?

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    1.  First, I gritted my teeth and erased my hard drive, hoping and praying I'd be able to restore from Time Machine.  I'd been backing up for quite some time, but never needed it before.  HOWEVER:
    Lion evidently left little gremlins all over my hard drive, because I simply could not get my hard drive restored properly, not from the Time Machine restore function on the SL disk NOR from a manual  "Star Wars" pick and choose with my Time Machine.  Therefore (and this is important):
    I zeroed out my hard drive completely, after trying for an entire day to get things back to normal.  What you have to do is start up from the Snow Leopard disk, and do a COMPLETE erase, by which I mean that when you use DU to erase your hard drive, you go into the "security" panel on th DU screen and do a 7-pass zero-initialization of your hard drive, i.e., write zeros all over everything on your hard drive seven times, leaving it truly free of that yucky Lion.  THEN I reinstalled Snow Leopard, ran Software Update several times until it had updated everything it wanted to ad nauseum, and THEN was able to get Time Machine to work properly and bit by bit restored everything I wanted to restore.  I am appalled at the lack of accurate documentation that comes with Time Machine, frankly.  Anyway, when you get ready to restore your software AFTER you put the Snow Leopard system back on your hard drive and update it, you have to go back to a backup from BEFORE you installed Lion, though:  this is important.  Don't try to put anything associated with Lion back on your hard drive.  For me, that backup was done was last Friday.  It took ages, but....my hard drive is now purring like a kitten, and I have Snow Leopard and all my old software back.  It was a mess, but it seems to be over.  I learned from this disaster how important it is to completely wipe your hard drive clean before trying to reinstall an older  operating system.  As far as Lion goes, I will be extremely careful before I assume any new upgrade is a good upgrade.  It isn't.  I LIKE my elderly Adobe programs and my kid likes her games that need Rosetta, as does Word 2004.  My Mac is much happier with Snow Leopard.  For now.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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