Install multiple Mac OS versions on disk partitions

I would like to install several Mac OS versions on my iMac. For my everyday work I am using 10.6 and I would like to have two additional fresh installs of 10.6 and 10.7.

Unfortunately, Virtual Machines cannot be used because the graphics hardware performance is not sufficient.

So my approach was to create two additional partitions on my disk, resulting in three partitions called "Macintosh HD", "Mac OS 10.6" and "Mac OS 10.7".
When trying to install 10.6 on the partition "Mac OS 10.6" via the install DVD the procedure was not successful, resulting in a Kernel Panic after system restart. When booting with pressed alt key, I could boot from my main partition. The partition "Mac OS 10.6" just contained some files apparently copied from the installation disk, no more.

My next action was to install rEFIt and to retry the procedure, but I didn't succeed (same results).

Any help is appreciated!

I would start from scratch. Merge the partitions back into one; run the full suite of cleaning/maintenance tools in Onyx (under the Automation menu); then try again. Make sure you have an external backup of your data first. You might also want to check the hard drive for errors more thoroughly. The proper tools for that are pretty limited though. You can try SMART Utility to see if it can detect any early signs of hard drive failure. It has a free trial, so take advantage of it. The only other tool I'm really familiar with is TechTool Pro. It can do a surface scan to check for bad blocks; rebuild a volume; and more. It's not cheap, but it is a great piece of software (SMART Utility still trumps it and everything else for analyzing the SMART data on a drive though).

BTW… how were those partitions formatted? You should be using Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Don't use the case-sensitive option.