Unable to install OS X

I have just replaced the hard drive in my G4 with one from IFIXIT and used the guide here to do so.... It was simple following the steps, and taping the screws to the pages I printed out to follow....

anyway, the new drive is in and the laptop starts up but I cannot get it to install the OS

I have the disks labeled PowerBook G4 Mac OS X Install Disc 1 version 10.4, AHT version 2.5, Disc version 1.1. and then Mac OS x install Disc 2.

I have inserted the Disc 1 and held down the C key to boot up and it churns and then I just get a blue screen with nothing.....

I have held down the option key and then I get a choice of Installation Disk or Hardware Test, and if I select Installation, it again then churns and goes to the blue screen of nothing. If I choose the Hardware Test it tells me that it is not supported.

before I installed the new drive I had upgraded to 10.5.8 Leopard, from 10.5.6 which was running okay other than a Mail problem, and that upgrade resulted in a major crash, and then the Genius Bar at Apple Store said my drive was failing and they could not help me.

The Leopard upgrade was in part via a drop in DVD of Leopard and then downloads from Apple site... When I insert the drop in DVD now it tells me that it requires that 10.4 be installed before it can run.

What can be done to get 10.4 installed? I really wish Apple wouldn't be so piggish about making old versions of operating systems available.....

UPDATED AFTER FIRST ANSWER BELOW == Update ==

Thank you for the first answer below.... But

I am not convinced that it is a problem with the OS X discs......

I have diagnosed it thus....

On power startup I get the chime which indicates a successful hardware test.

Then I get the flashing question mark in the folder

This would normally mean either a corrupt OS installation or a failing hard drive.

When I startup holding down the option key to boot to the install DVD, I get the chime, then it reads the DVD to show the installation disc. I do not get any other options at this point for Utility or anything else... Just the install disc. After I select the installation disc and the continue arrow, I do get the Apple logo and the spinning wheel. At this point the computer has found a valid system disk and is attempting to load the OS. It is after this that it cannot read the OS, or it is missing some hardware connection to install.....

Therefore I took my old drive and put it in an external enclosure and connected via FireWire and began again. This time I get the chime, the folder and question mark, and then it recognizes the external drive and goes right to the Apple logo and spinning wheel and then runs for a bit with nothing on the screen before it suddenly goes dead.

Obviously it cannot make the connection between the OS and the drive....

I believe my possibilities are a dead new hard drive, a dead hard drive cable, perhaps a damaged logic board(oh no), or another hardware issue.

Seems to me I should be able to run some diagnostic check to figure out exactly what it is.... I am able to boot it into Open Firmware, but at that point I have no idea how to run any tests....